Deathdealer
by Ash The Wanderer
Summary: The tables have turned, and it appears Joey is about to claim a victory! Until the mysterious card is finally revealed, the one that has allowed V to burn down every opponent that he has faced. And Joey's next....Or is he?
1. New Blood

Deathdealer

Writer's Note: A few people are probably coming into this fic thinking there's been a mistake.

And when they realize there isn't, they're probably thinking "Ash, what the hell are you DOING?"

"Why are you, a man once known for making many people's stomach turn in sickening DBZ Horror fics, doing writing a YU-GI-OH fanfic!??!?!?!?"

The answer is, it grew on me.

As some know, I once wrote popular and messy DBZ fanfics, and where I live, Yu-Gi-Oh comes on before DBZ. So I got into watching it while waiting for DBZ, and it grew on me. I admit, I thought it was silly at first (not knowing about the whole Yugi/Yami thing, I thought it was weird how Yugi kept switching looks and voices and started making fun of it like the animators couldn't make up their minds on which to use!), but eventually it started interesting me. It's happened before, it'll probably happen again.

Anyway, my job is VERY boring, and I have TONS of time to think. And I think of weird things to past the time. My 40+ page wrestling humour fic? That was the result of one very long dull day. I've had many other ideas, and this one came to me eventually, and it was just begging to be written. So I will do so.

As I have seen the dub, I will use the dub names. This story will also have very short chapters to insure quick updating. Also, I need some help. Does anyone know of a site which lists ALL the cards certain characters use? I know the major ones, but I also need to know the minor ones and different stuff that Yugi and co have in their decks (the main characters mostly). If no one can help me, I suppose I can always use the card listings in the video games, but those may be inaccurate. Also, this takes place after Battle City: could anyone tell me what happened to the Egyptian God Cards after that storyline? Were they destroyed? Does Yugi have them? Or something else?

Also, some of you, older fans of mine, may recognize the character I am using here. Before you ask "Why the heck does he know about this game and why is he playing it?", you will just have to read "Ballads of the Physics Police" by BobCat. The answer is in there, and it's also a very good fic. I will write so that no backstory is needed for people who do not know my work, so if those same older fans ask "Why is so and so acting like this?", it's a plot point. It'll eventually be explained.

Oh yes, the "piss off Seto Fangirls" bit. While that was in the tagline to hopefully draw you into the story, I do not like Seto Kaiba, and that will be reflected in the plot. But do not despair! I am no idiotic Mary Sue writer, oh no. Rather, I will take up a challenge: to drive all the people out there who like Seto Kaiba nuts, in a way that will make them want more chapters to find out what happens, rather then writing flames. Don't think I can do it?

Let's try anyway. Let's go!

Chapter 1: New Blood

Before we begin this tale, let us speak first of darkness.

Darkness is the absence of light, but it is often far more then that. Although the lack of illumination may cause the technical thing know as "darkness", it is often linked to other things. It is supposedly the colour of malice and dread, the pitch and tone that speaks of bad intentions. So many kinds of darkness. The crazy twisting of the lunatic, the cold unfeeling pierce of the sociopath, the overwhelming and suffocating tint of a megalomaniac.

And some are far worse….

But there are also positive kinds of darkness, ones that speak of peace, calm, and rest,

Let us look into a room suffused with such a darkness. It is the room of a child, who we find on the bed, sleeping calmly.

The child speaks of the innocence we are all destined to lose. His hair has a style that is to say, at least, unique: shaped into spiked locks that seemingly defy gravity without the aid of hair gel, of strange colours, including a bright gold, that would be impossible to achieve without a dye of some kind. His wide round eyes are closed, and the breathing from his small frame is slow and calm. This child rests peacefully in the darkness, unafraid of anything it could possibly hide.

Perhaps for more then one reason.

(Writer's Note: As far as I can tell, Yami has no actual physical form of his own. He can switch his visage with Yugi's, and appear to Yugi in a spirit form of some kind, but in some stories I have read it appears he also has physical form. So, in this fic, he does as well. If this is wrong, please explain to me why…)

Let us look now at the other figure in this room. This one does not sleep, but instead stares out the window, out at the night, as if pondering the darkness out there, perhaps pontificating if it contains the malice that this room lacks. He could be the sleeping child's older brother: for but a slightly height and different posture, and changes in hairstyle and eyes (the child's eyes speak of innocence, but the other's speak of experience, some of it bitter, and time…so much time…), they are identical. Perhaps the child sleeps so peacefully because of this near twin of his presence in the room.

The older figure, whom we know is called Yami, is not in such a peaceful state. While not alarmed, he has been staring out into the night for some time not, almost as if he is waiting for something. For all his abilities, Yami is not precognitive: the future holds as much uncertainty to him as it does to anyway (barring the occasionally power mad lunatic after his Millennium Puzzle, of course).

Yet he cannot shake the feeling that something is happening, something out there, that could eventually bring great peril to him and the child he guards.

Now let us go out into the night. Let us travel across the city known as Domino. While this world is perhaps not quite as imprisoned in the hand basket so many societies seem to be heading towards hell in, every city has it's share of creatures that prefer the darkness to the light.

But they are small fry.

Instead, we are about to meet perhaps the darkest of all things…

There was nothing special about the lot: it was like thousands across the planet. Strewn with trash, discarded pieces of various vices and sins littering the ground along with rubbish no longer needed by any man. Nothing lives here: organic life or humans. Nothing but the endless spread of stone and steel.

Nothing to appreciate what is to come.

The first indication that something is happening is the sudden overpowering stench of ozone. A wind stirs and then blows, tossing lighter pieces of trash in the air. Unfortunately, we have no strange man to film them and interpret them as a metaphor for how life is beautiful, which is too bad…

Because something far beyond that is about to happen.

With a sudden noise that is best described as a cross between a tearing noise and a bellow of an angry giant, the air SPLITS. It rips as if it was composed of paper, reality breaking apart and revealing a white void that crackles and snaps, as if in anger.

The vacant lot regards this little violation of most of the laws of physics with the same air of detachment that vacant lots have, mostly because they are, well, vacant lots.

The white void spits sparks, and then it spits out something else.

The figure emerges from the whiteness and exits the tear with some force, but he (for we can see it is a he) lands with the grace of a cat, knees bending to absorb the impact.

He stands. Behind him the void crackles, as if it is not happy to be called into existence in such a cruddy place.

The man pays it no mind. Instead, he simply raises an arm and gestures at the void. It crackles one more time and then slowly closes back up. In seconds reality is whole again, the only indication it was ever there the stench of ozone.

The man, in contrast to the whiteness he stepped out of, is a study in black. Black is all he wears, from the black boots on his feet to the black shine of the strange one-piece outfit he wears to the black of his long hair, which lies over his face.

He brushes it back.

He is a tall man, taunt with highly developed but not oversized muscle. His face is fairly handsome, in a dark Gothic way. Perhaps there is some Mediterranean blood in his family, or perhaps he merely avoids light just enough to have a slight dusky tone without going pale. His eyes are a dark blue, highly alert. Perhaps the most noticeable thing about his face is the scar. It starts above his right eye, cutting down past the blue and white orb, miraculously not having removed the optic tool in it's application as it progressed down. It stops about halfway down the cheek and climbs back up, finishing near the ear, forming a letter V.

The man blinks and observes his surroundings.

"………Good."

His tone is calm, with a strong undercurrent of steel. It is a voice that has seen many things, and perhaps more importantly, learned good lessons from them.

"Well….fairly nice place…suppose they invested their money well…" the man says, although who he is addressing is not known: perhaps he is addressing the vacant lot itself. If he is, it is clear he has no idea about money investment.

"Well, I'm here…now…to play the game I will need cards. To get cards I will need funds. And since I do not relish the concept of getting a job, I will have to find other methods to obtain what I need. But if I was dropped off where I wanted to be, that shouldn't be a problem…" the man says, and turns, heading for a destination known only to him.

Back to the bedroom we go, as Yami's observations of the night is suddenly interrupted by a growing feeling of unease. He had had a notion that something was slightly off when he started his night vigil, but now he is sure of it.

Something has happened.

Good or bad, he does not know.

But something…

The bar was loud and noisy, blaring it's existence as if it had something to prove. To what is not sure. Perhaps it is trying to impress the vacant lots.

The bar is filled with men that would seem out of place in a futuristic Japanese city, but then again, all worlds carry their oddities. Perhaps in this world, instead of making the trek to Sturgis, South Dakota, the men in this bar head for someplace in Asia, and stop here along the way.

The men are remarkably similar. They're all large (more so then most average humans) they all possess rather large amounts of body hair, their personal hygiene leaves something to be desired, and they all dress in leather, despite the fact that weather wasn't always permitting. They drink alcohol in copious amounts, shoot pool, and speak to each other in tones that are more benefiting a lawn mover, in which they also seem to be having a competition oh who can use the most dirty words, despite the need to use such words or not.

Not the most pleasant place on the surface, but the underneath is even filthier. Near the back, three men talk. One is noticeable: he's a giant even among this group of large men. His head is shaved bald, and his look is quite unpleasant, even among men he would seemingly be at ease at. The details of what the three are discussing are not important, but let us just say for the most part, they are immoral, illegal, and highly disgusting. All bikers get a bad rap by the actions of the men like these, the men who fill the bar.

It would take something special to get the attention from the raucous clatter that fills the bar.

Someone violently kicking the door off its hinges works quite well.

An uncommon hush falls over the bar as the door lands and the man walks in. There is no hesitation in his step: he knows his actions and trusts them totally.

"Gentlemen!" the man says, with a slight sarcastic undertone that no one in this establishment has the intelligence to notice. He takes a few steps and scoops up a nearby mug of alcohol: he drinks and then spits it out.

"Ugh! Swill. But then again, what could I expect…"

"Who the fuck are you?" one of the bikers, a redhead with a long greasy head of hair and beard, known to his brothers as Firethrust (another thing about bikers: they tend to give themselves strange codenames that cause a few people to laugh at the in-joke associated with said name and leave the rest of us scratching our heads in puzzlement), said.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm….Ah. You may call me…V." the man said. Or V said. If that is not his name, he must be concealing it for a reason. For now, we shall know him as V.

"Why the hell…" some other biker sputters (an odd thing, to hear such a large and presumingly tough man sputter).

"Ah well, you see, I have a problem. I need money! And now!" V says. He speaks in a way that suggests he is more giving a speech on a stage, rather then speaking to a large group of angry (and big) men. "So, I figured I could look around and find a place like this and you people could help me out with a generous donation…"

"…….Ice this numbnut!" another redhead, known strangely as Hydrant (and let us feel relief at NOT knowing where that name came from) said, as he took two steps to but him within striking distance of V.

"Look people, you can make two decisions in this situation…" V said, seemingly not noticing the angry biker about to punch his head off.

Hydrant swung.

In a blur of motion, V's arm snapped up and caught Hydrant's fist in a death grip.

"YOU JUST MADE THE WRONG ONE."

Hydrant suddenly got a sensation of great pain as V twisted his arm violently, and he opened his mouth to yell. But in the process of twisting his arm, V has maneuvered himself behind Hydrant. Hydrant last's memory was the feeling of very strong fingers on his left cheek before V savagely pulled, breaking his neck and nearly twisting his head off. The sound of a neck breaking is nothing like it is in the movies, usually, but this act was done so fiercely the sound was actually LOUDER.

Another second of silence.

"GET THE FUCKER!"

V waited two seconds to see which members of the gang would resort to firearms, and then he shoved the body of Hydrant at them with great force, knocking them over. Some of them tried to fire anyway, and hence did great damage to the nearby walls and ceiling, and in one guy's case, the head of a grey-haired man across the room.

V was just as ready for the ones who wanted to use hand-to-hand combat. The first one received a vicious kick to the chest that was a powerful as it was precise, snapping two ribs back and jabbing the broken ends into the heart and one lung. As the biker went down, V placed a hand on his back and vaulted over, swinging his leg out and slamming it across two bearded faces. He landed near a poor table, vaulted over the edge as one of them tried to smash a pool stick across his face, and caught the following backhand swing, pulling the swinger to him and slamming his palm into his face. The man went down, his brain pieced with shards of his nasal bone, as V swung and broke the stick over the head of another man who had actually gotten up and managed to aim a gun at him.

A beer gutted man charged at him, bellowing. He may as well have painted a target on himself, as V rammed the broken end of the stick into his huge gut so hard that it pierced out through his back. As the big-and-now-pierced gutted man's roar charged from rage to pain, V flipped over the man, grabbed the bloody end of the stick on the other side, and yanked, pulling the stick all the way through and getting an immediate re-use out of it as he jammed the broken end into the throat of another biker.

One of the few thin men in the group came at him, a switchblade in his hand. He raised his hand to swipe at him, but V's arm got there first, grabbing the man's forearm and drastically changing it's course, as he yanked the knife backwards and up, laying the thin man's throat open to the bone. The thin man gave one bloody gurgle and collapsed on the pool table.

V's eyes saw one of the biker's with guns getting up just as he saw a pool ball within reach. The man aimed at him as he snatched the large wooden ball off the table and hurled it. The ball bounced off the man's head with a satisfying _KLONK!,_ knocking him stupid(er).

"Hollow. Just as I thought." V commented. The loud sound of a shotgun cocking caught his attention, and he turned.

The barman, himself a large man, had drawn out his weapon and cocked it, aiming it at V.

V dove to the ground as it went off, splattering some poor fool behind him. The floor, slick with blood, was easy to slide on, as he shoved himself across the floor and leapt up in front of the bar like a demented jack in the box, snapping out his leg and kicking the shotgun aside. He slammed his hand down and used it as a fulcrum on the bar surface to land safely behind it. He snatched up a bottle of some kind of alcohol and slammed it down on the edge of the bar, shattering it. The barman had recovered by now, and tried to aim his shotgun at V again. He got a face-full of broken glass shards, and he screamed and dropped the gun as he clawed at his shredded visage.

"DIE YOU CRAZY FUCKER!" Some biker yelled at V. That saved him, as V turned his head, saw the biker aiming a pistol at him, and took a quick step to the right, behind the barman whom he had just mutilated. The biker, who had little experience but great practice with firearms, followed the movement and instinctively fired. He hit the barman instead of V, but that didn't stop him from firing twice more, putting the barman out of his misery.

V snatched up the barman's shotgun and aimed to return fire, but the barman's body slumped and threw off his aim, blasting a hole in the pool table next to his opponent. Shrieking, the biker fired again, and V grabbed the back of the barman's vest and jerked him up to use as cover again.

"DIE! DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the biker with the gun kept screaming, and evidence of a brain surfaced as he grabbed the body of the thin man V had killed a few seconds ago up and held it in front of him as his own shield as he fired three more times. The bullets thudded into the body V held before him as he re-cocked the shotgun.

"Hey buddy, rule number 1 when using corpses as cover…" V said, and then shoved the body aside and aimed. "DON'T HIDE BEHIND THE THIN GUY!"

The lethal blast of steel pellets blew through the thin man's corpse and ventilated the gunman, who pitched backwards with a gurgle. V re-cocked his gun and blew the head off another close biker, then re-cocked again and showed the last standing biker why it was best to keep your guts inside you.

That was it for the bikers: none were left standing. V re-cocked the shotgun anyway and carefully stepped out, looking for movement.

He found it all right, as sometime before V had made his entrance, the bald giant and the two he was speaking to had retired to the back. When the noise had begun, something managed to keep them from charging out until the noise had stopped. It had now, and they had emerged.

Their good planning ended there: they had neglected to draw their guns when they came out.

V blew away the first one before he could blink and intercepted the second one in mid-draw, blasting the pieces of his handgun back and through him. He aimed at the bald giant and pulled the trigger, but the shotgun just issued a dry click this time. V looked at it, and then tossed it aside.

The bald giant had seemed fairly calm, but whatever control he had had gone out the window when V had summarily executed his two goons. He said a muttered curse that didn't sound like English and swung at V.

V dodged aside and retaliated with a backhand so fierce that despite having 4 inches and about 70 pounds on V the bald giant was still floor. He cursed again as he got up, and V recognized the language: German.

Then he noticed something dangling around the bald giant's neck, something that had apparently been behind his short until V had struck him, a necklace with a symbol.

An Iron Cross.

"Well well, a Nazi. Or is it Neo-Nazi? Odd thing to find in a biker gang, but then again, whose to say how you run things here…?" V said, shrugging.

"_Verdammt gutter trash! I will not stand for this!" the Nazi cursed as he got up_

"Why not?" V asked.

"My blood is perfect, stronger and purer then yours! AND YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS AFFRONT!" The Nazi, in the grip of delusional righteousness, screamed, and swung.

V dodged aside, drawing back his fist, and pistoning it forward. The whole bar filled with a sickening cracking/tearing noise. The Nazi screamed.

"Your blood is stronger? Your blood is purer? Your blood is perfect?"

V twisted his arm. The Nazy screamed again.

"Your blood is also on the floor…"

"ARRRRRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHHH!"

"On my hand…."

"AIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Running down my arm…"

"AAUUUUUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" 

"Coming out of your mouth…"

V jerked his arm back and the bald Nazi giant fell, his head slamming into the floor. A second later, V dropped his heart down next to him.

"And coming out of that rather large hole in your chest. I'd say I'm better off with my impure blood. I haven't lost any of it." V said. He reached down and picked up the Cross.

"Pity, really. This symbol used to mean other things, including good luck. Then your system picked it up and now everyone associates it with pure evil. Even more tragic is how pointless your whole system was. Do you know how much genetic difference exists between you, me, a Jew, an African native, and an Eskimo fisherman? None whatsoever. Your vaunted racial purity never existed. Fools, one and all. But that doesn't make your money any less worthy…"

V went through the Nazi's pockets, picking anything that resembled paper currency. He ignored coins and cards: he didn't have time to puzzle over that stuff. He went through the bar, rifling the pockets of all the bikers. Some were still alive, but most didn't offer any resistance: the lone one who tried was silenced with a savage punch to the jaw. After picking everyone's pockets and the cash register, V decided their might be more funds in the back and headed there.

He was back there for a bit, but not because there was an excess of money. When he re-emerged, his expression had hardened, and he was carrying a belt of some kind, with small round objects attached to it. He found one of the bikers that was still alive and look into his battered face.

"Nice place you have back there."

"Ugghhhhhh?" the biker known as Firethrust murmured.

"Lots of nice guns. Some nice drugs, I would assume. What's not so nice is that woman I found tied to the chair. What's ever worse is the rather unpleasant condition her corpse is in."

Firethrust's dull expression just infuriated V more.

"Where'd she come from? Snatch her off the street? Some poor prostitute you figured wouldn't be missed? Or maybe just someone you saw and decided you wanted? You think that brings you power, what you did? That it makes you worthy? YOU PATHETIC COWARDS." V hissed.

Firethrust remained incomprehensive. V snorted and held up the belt.

"But like I said, nice weapons. Especially this grenade belt you got here?"

A quick jerk of V's arm, and several loops of metal suddenly clattered to the floor in front of Firethrust.

"OOPS! I seem to have accidentally pulled out every single pin! Silly me!" V said, and tossed the grenade belt towards the back as he stood up and walked through the door. Firethrust seemed to have enough brains left to understand what had just happened, as he began making a weird keening groan of distress.

V ignored him as he walked out the door and across the parking lot filled with bikes.

The bar went up in a violent explosion around him, bathing his back in intense heat. He stopped and took a long breath, even as flaming debris crashed down around him. He paid it no mind at all, as if he was untouchable.

"That's better. Now…" V said, as he looked at the large clump of somewhat bloodied money in his hand. "Time to go buy some cards. And then…the real game starts."

As the fire raged behind him, V walked off into the darkness, holding his head high, seemingly looking at something. Bright flames danced behind him, and dark flames of terrible joy danced in his eyes.

"Wanna play?"

Yugi sat up with a gasp, startling Yami by the window.

"Yugi! Are you ok?" Yami said, getting up and heading over to the young child.

"Yeah…nightmare…maybe…it certainly wasn't pleasant…" Yugi said.

"What was it?"

"I don't remember what happened before, but I saw these burning flames, and then this dark figure walked out of them, and he seemed to look in my eyes with this terrible blackness in his vision and he said "Wanna play?". And then I woke up." Yugi said.

Yami was silent.

"Maybe I should lay off the pepperoni pizza and chocolate sauce before I…Yami? Yami? Are you ok?"

Yami stayed silent.

Yugi's face filled with apprehension as he came to a conclusion.

"It wasn't just a dream, was it?" Yugi said. "It meant something. And you know. You feel something. Is it bad?"

"Bad…no…I wouldn't say it was bad…but I do have this strange feeling…" Yami said, as he looked back out the window. The darkness inside and out had been deserted by the peace that reigned over it earlier: now it held only possibilities…be they grand or horrid.

"I don't sense any evil, like the vibes I was getting a little before Malik showed up. But I am definitely sensing something…dangerous. Yes. Very dangerous. But I can't tell if it's a threat or something else."

Yami looked back at the young child who was his best friend and fellow gamemaster.

"But I had think we had better be on our guard. Or we could regret it."

His last words were a mere whisper. Yugi barely heard him speak.

"Or someone else might."

To Be Continued.


	2. Shopping

Chapter 2: Shopping

Yugi felt refreshed as he finished putting on his shoes and headed downstairs to the small kitchen that was in the back of his grandfather's game store.

"Hey Grandpa. How are…" Yugi's words ceased when he saw his grandfather looking intently at the television. Yugi knew just what his grandfather was watching, and he quietly walked over to his side.

"Anything?" he asked.

"Not yet, but they said that would have more information, so I'm waiting." Solomon Moto said, and returned his attention to the TV. Yugi watched with him.

"Police are still not sure on the cause of the explosion or how many people were inside the bar when it happened. Fire investigators, however, will not yet say if this is a definite arson. Back to you, Terry." The male reporter said, finishing up a story that apparently involved some building blowing up.

"Thank you Ceci. In other local news, police are exploring new leads in the case of several robberies…"

"Here it is." Solomon said.

"Dubbed the "Dine and Dash" bandits, two men have robbed several game stores over the past four weeks, posing as buyers and then using violent sneak attacks on the game store proprietors when they went to aid them in their supposed purchase. The attacks have grown increasingly more violent, and have left one game storeowner dead and another game store assistant in critical condition. Police tell local merchants not to panic, but to be cautious. Newspapers have released several sketches of the wanted felons…"

A picture of two men appeared on the TV. One had short black hair and a stone-like face with small, cold eyes. The second man was a little smaller and had shoulder length stringy blonde hair. People had described the blonde as flighty and nervous but also with a taste for sudden violence.

"Police say if you see these two men, call them at…"

"Nothing I didn't already know…" Solomon said, and sighed. These attacks worried him, and even though he had had several security measures installed just in case fate decided to be cruel, he was still worried. He didn't care if men came and robbed his shop, or even hurt him, but Yugi, even protected by the artifact he wore around his neck, presented a picture that men like these "Dine and Dashers" found irresistible, in the wrong way.

He, over the course of his life, had made peace with the fact that such men existed, but he still wondered why…

"Any customers Grandpa?" Yugi asked as he began putting together a breakfast.

"Just one. He's out there now."

"Grandpa…?" Yugi said, looking up. While he wouldn't call him paranoid, the robberies had definitely made his grandfather more cautious, and for him to leave a customer out in the store alone seemed odd.

"Don't worry. He doesn't look a thing like the sketches, and even if he IS somehow one of them or another kind of robber, I set the door. He needs me to punch him out to leave, and if I don't want him to, he's stuck between the door, the bars on the windows, and the door that seals behind me to get to the back room and any other way out. And we both know what happens if he tries to bash his way out." Solomon said.

Indeed Yugi did, due to Joey's goofing off setting off one of the security systems. At least his grandpa wasn't leaving them on 24/7 (he'd heard Duke was doing just that). The bandits, so far, had just struck at night, so when the day wore on his grandfather would deactivate the alarm and remove the retractable bars around the windows. When night started to fall, though, they went back up. And so that would continue until the robbers were caught. Hopefully soon…

"In other news, police are also looking for tips about a possible serial rapist…"

Yugi tuned out the news report as he ate, just catching a few bits about six possible sex assaults and the fact the rapist struck in empty parking lots using a disabling drug, maybe chloroform. He disliked the news: the way the people on those kind of shows presented stuff, you almost expected to see the Four Horsemen riding down from the sky and declaring the End Days were here. The world wasn't that bad…

But there were bad things out there. He knew that all too well.

A buzz filled the room. Yugi was closer to the panel that controlled the security systems, so he went over to see who was at the door.

It was a familiar face, as Joey waved at the small camera mounted above the door.

"It's me Yug! Let me in!"

"It's Joey grandpa!" Yugi said over his shoulder, and he turned to put his dishes into the dishwasher as his grandfather went to buzz Joey in.

Out in the store, Solomon passed the lone customer he had let in. He was still doing what he had been doing when Solomon had left: staring intently at the cards. He had moved a few feet, which suggested he was looking up and down the rows of displayed cards. Solomon figured he could deal with him when Yugi had left for whatever he had planned to do: there was still about half of summer vacation left, and the days had to be filled.

Solomon punched in the temporary alarm deactivation code and Joey carefully opened the door and closed it.

"Hiya Gramps! Hiya…you!" Joey said, in a good mood as he addressed Solomon and then turned to the other person in the store before realizing he didn't know him. It was a big guy too: with a long black duster coat and black hair that fell over the man's right eye as he looked at Joey.

"How are you sir." He replied, and then went back to looking at the cards on display. Joey dismissed him and turned to Solomon.

"Yug ready?"

"Almost…"

"Hi Joey!" Yugi said as he bounced out of the back door, the Millennium Puzzle now hanging from his neck. "How are…YEEK!"

No, Yugi had not recognized V as he stood there looking at cards. Rather, his grandfather's new security systems had caused a few subtle changes in the store that Yugi wasn't used to. One of them was a rather thick cord that ran across the floor of the gap in the counter that allowed Solomon to go from behind to in front of his displays and also read to the back. Yugi, intend on heading over to Joey, had forgotten once more that cord was there, and his right foot snarled on it and stole his balance, causing the small boy to pitch forward towards the floor.

"WHOA!" Yugi said.

His descent abruptly halted as soon as it had begun, as an arm in black clothing zipped across Yugi's field of vision, and a half-second later gripped his chest, stopping his fall. V leaned back up, helping the boy regain his balance.

"Careful there." V said to Yugi.

"Thanks mister!"

"Not a problem." V said.

"Whoa! You're fast, dude." Joey said. And he meant it: he had barely seen the guy turn away from the counter and lean down slightly, slipping his arm under Yugi and catching him. He was amazed such a big guy could react so quickly and precisely. "Good thing! That Puzzle of yours probably isn't the most pleasant thing to land on."

"Probably." Yugi said, taking a quick look around to see if he had dropped anything. He saw nothing.

"Well, I'm going now grandpa! I'll be back before dinner. Thanks again mister!" Yugi said as he headed out the still open front door with Joey.

"You're welcome." V said after Yugi, and went back to looking at cards. The door closed and buzzed slightly as Solomon reset the alarm.

"And I thank you too." Solomon said, walking over to stand in front of V. He had been nervous when he had first seen the man: despite not matching the robber descriptions, he was a big guy: nearly twice as tall as him, and over twice as tall as Yugi. The fact that all he wore was black was rather disenchanting as well. However, the way he had caught Yugi dispelled some of Solomon's doubts: most robbers were FAR too stupid to use such a degree of subtlety in the act of thievery that they would catch a small child in the midst of falling to lull the shop owner into a state of false security.

"It wasn't a problem. Just doing what I could." V said.

"Are you looking for anything in specific?"

"Not really…I wanted to start playing this game…was it Duel Monsters or Magic and Wizards, I keep messing the names up…"

"Duel Monsters."

"Yes, well, like I said it interests me…but the precise rules are still unclear…"

"Well, what would you like to know?"

"Well, are these good cards?"

"These? Well, these are more common cards…what level do you want to duel at?"

"I may be a rookie, but I thrive on challenges…so the higher the better, and the quicker I get there, the better too."

"Hmmmmm. Well if you really want to duel like that, these cards may help, but they would be far too weak by themselves. I keep the rarer, better…abet more expensive cards in the back. I'll go get them…" Solomon said. V sighed as he left. This coat has already taken a fair bite out of his funds, but it was necessary. His outfit was unusual looking and could draw attention, and he didn't want to do that. He had figured out the rudimentary currency system of this world, but he still had no idea how expensive good cards could be.

"Here we are." Solomon said as he returned with a thick book. He gave it to V and V opened it.

He gaped. These were DEFINITELY better cards: while the ones he had been looking at before had had only two, three, and some four, dots to indicate how strong they were, every monster card in the book had nothing less then a six. And most of the numbers in the prices were a lot higher then six.

"Holy sh…utterbugs." V said, biting off a curse. He didn't want to swear in front of this man: he seemed nice and undeserving of such crudeness.

"Indeed, they are rather pricey." Solomon said.

_No kidding. I could afford maybe one or two of these…unless I go burn down a few more biker bars, and methinks that they aren't THAT common here._ V thought.

"Would I need cards like this to duel at expert levels?"

"Well no, but still…" Solomon said. The man's ambition was obviously quite high: how much it outscored his abilities Solomon didn't know, but he figured it was probably a fair bit. "Casual duelists use cards like the ones on the racks, but dedicated ones have cards like these, which far outstrip casual decks. But as you can see, these cards are therefore rarer and more expensive. Expert duelists have either the great amount of funds needed to acquire such cards, or spend years besting opponents and collecting cards that way. My grandson, Yugi…that child you caught, he's got great skills in dueling, but his success is also because of his deck, which was once mine. I worked on it for years."

"I don't have years…" V said, slightly cross.

"Well, there are always those who want to jump in feet first, but that's really not practical or even possible in Duel Monsters…I could always sell you a pack of normal cards and you could go from there, but even with luck it could still take you months…"

"Don't have months either…" V said, sighing within. He had a problem now, and a solution didn't seem to be easy in coming. He closed the book and put it down, and for the first time noticed a card framed on the wall.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Oh, that was one of my best cards…a Blue Eyes White Dragon. There are only four like it in the world, including that one." Solomon said.

"Whoa. That is rare."

"Rarer now. There are only three working ones: that one was torn in half…"

"What? Why? Who?" V said, somewhat surprised that someone would want to destroy such a rare and valuable card.

Solomon looked unhappy.

"You must be new in town…"

"I am…"

"Well then. A man named Seto Kaiba did it. He owns a large corporation, and he also owned the other three Blue Eyes. He challenged me to a duel, I wasn't prepared properly, he beat me and torn the card up so it couldn't be used against him." Solomon said.

"He did? What a bastard…" V said, muttering the last bit under his breath.

"Well, he's a haughty and proud man, so I suppose it could be expected. I don't really harbor any ill will, especially since my Yugi bested him in a Duel recently…and that reminds me. I think I may have a solution to your problem."

"Oh?"

"Mr…?"

"V."

"Vee?" Solomon said, a bit confused.

"Yes."

"Unique name, that is…well Mr. Vee, I must ask you, would you consider yourself intelligent?"

"How important is it?"

"Fairly, I would say."

"I would say I possess a fair amount of brains."

"Well then, since you want to duel at an expert level with the appropriate cards but don't have the ability to buy them or the time to acquire them, there is another option…but I must ask, do you have any restrictions on how you wish to play this game?"

"Not really."

"Good. Just a moment, let me get a piece of paper…"

Over the next fifteen minutes Solomon carefully explained something to V, who listened quietly and nodded every now and then.

"That's about it. Here are the directions." Solomon said, handing over written instructions for V.

"Thank you sir. I appreciate your help in this." V said, taking a quick look at the paper and then folding it and putting it in one of his jacket pockets.

"Not a problem. Come back any time." Solomon said.

What Solomon Moto did not know was that his grandson had not gone far. He had stopped Joey a few feet from the game shop and engaged him in small talk while he waited. While the man who had caught him seemed peaceful enough, his size had caught Yugi's eye too. Just to be on the safe side, he was going to wait until he left.

"The challenges have slacked off lately, which I suppose is more good then bad…but I admit they kept me sharp and gave me something to do…" Yugi was saying when the door opened and the man walked out. He saw Yugi and gave him a slight wave as he walked past Yugi. Yugi returned it.

When the man had walked some distance away Yugi headed over to the window of the game shop and peeked in. He saw his grandfather fiddling with the display counter and sighed a short sigh of relief: nothing had happened.

"Ok, we can go now…Joey?" Yugi said.

"Maybe it was the light, but I could swear that guy had a large scar on his face…not sure, but it gave me a bad vibe, Yug…I don't suppose your resident pharaoh felt anything weird, did he?"

"Yami? Hmmmmmm, I'm not getting anything from him…maybe he's resting though…I did have an odd dream last night though, and he said…"

Yugi and Joey wandered off as Yugi spoke, while V headed for the place Solomon had told him of.

Their paths would cross again, sooner then later, and in far more dire circumstances then Yugi would have ever predicted…

To Be Continued.


	3. DDueling

Chapter 3: D-Dueling

Author's Note: Thanks for the help on card locating guys: I got the info I need. Now, let's see if I can draw some more readers in…if you like it, recommend it to someone! Thanks!

It sounded like someone stuttering, but what it really was a combination of a Seto Kaiba brainstorm, his attempt to silence some critics, and a little petty revenge thrown in.

After failing in Battle City, Kaiba had been depressed for a little bit, and had thrown himself into his work (even more so) to try and escape his personal feelings of disappointment. To make sure he was occupied totally, Kaiba began sketching up some plans for a second Kaibaland.

Then had come the news report. It had been about the possible negative effects of Duel Monsters (in society's continued efforts to demonize everything that is fun in order to find something to scapegoat when some nutball committed a crime and his parents couldn't accept the fact they may have failed quite badly in their parenting), citing how children ignored schoolwork and exercise in order to collect cards and play the game. The report also cast a critical eye on the lopsided victories in major tournaments: all the finalists always seemed to be people who had had time to find or purchase rare cards. Kaiba, after hearing this for the first time, hadn't know whether to laugh or bang his head on his desk as the reporter seemed to accuse him and Yugi and the Duelists who really worked at their game and had the cards to prove it were hogging all the "good" cards for themselves and denying them to the grubby faced morons who probably dueled once a week at most and hardly knew what they were doing.

Then again, there is no better revenge then to beat someone at their own game, and Kaiba had had an idea.

That idea was D-Dueling.

The second Kaibaland plan was modified into a new one that would introduce a new style of card collection. While normal Duelists had to buy, win (or in the case of those annoying Rare Hunters, steal) their cards, D-Decks were different. To acquire a D-Deck, all a person had to do was go to the recently opened D-Dueling Arena, enter an account, and then take a variety of quizzes. This cost some money, but not much: virtually anyone with a job could probably afford it without sacrificing any basic necessities. Once you made your account and paid up, you would be given a 15-question quiz on your basic personality. The answers on this quiz would determine the bare bones of your D-Deck. Then came the tricky part: you would be allowed to select from a variety of other quizzes of various subject: Duel Monsters trivia was one of them, but there were other ones such as math, history, and literature. You could pick a pure quiz, or a random one that offered a jumble of questions. Each quiz would ask a series of ten easy question, ten harder questions, and finally five EXTREMELY hard questions. The harder the question you answered, the better kind of card you got, depending on what your personality Quiz had gone.

This was to show up his critics: look at this, these people have to be smart to get the cards! Kids, stay in school and study, and maybe you can duel with all the cool cards that the world champions use! Everyone can have a Blue-Eyes or a Dark Magician or a Super Duper Mighty Man!

Except that wasn't the case. Kaiba didn't want a bunch of idiots running around with fake Blue Eyes cards (D-Cards had the disadvantage that they only worked inside the D-Dueling Arena, although normal cards worked as well, in case a normal Duelist wanted to duel a friend who only had D-Cards) proclaiming they were superior to him. The best cards had hard questions, and Kaiba had made sure they were HARD. When the Arena had opened, he had shown off the system by bringing in some experts in various fields and having them test the machines. One math genius barely managed to solve a certain question in the time limit he had, and it had rewarded him with a Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Another history expert managed to get a Dark Magician Girl, and had complimented Kaiba on forcing him to think. In the several months the D-Dueling Arena had been open, only one Blue-Eyes had been acquired, and that had been by an idiot savant who seemingly knew every single chemical formula in the world, but didn't know when his bowels were evacuating or not. Kaiba had been quite thorough: Every single card that had ever existed in the game was programmed into the machines, and were there to be won. In theory. In reality, getting the really good cards was a task most people could not accomplish. And Kaiba made sure that the questions and the cards they gave out were rotated so that no one would get an extremely powerful card because they had a good memory. True, if you kept your account open long enough, eventually you could take tests if you wanted to get certain cards, but these were even harder then the usual tests, so again, good luck.

Actually though, there was one set of cards that was not in the D-Deck system: pieces of Exodia. Although the tabloids had suggested that Kaiba had had them removed a month into the opening because of what happened between him and Yugi, the answer was much simpler: it had been a glitch. While rare, Exodia cards by themselves had very low ranked stats, and the computer had, in accordance to that, assigned easy questions. It hadn't taken long for people to catch on, and within two weeks it seemed like every duelist was just trying to call Exodia. It got a lot of complaints, and finally Kaiba stepped in and corrected the problem, removing the cards from the game. That had caused more complaints, but Kaiba knew those ones would fade. They had. 

Also, The D-Dueling Arena had other facilities, including a top-notch arcade, a cafeteria arena, a large shop with lots of dueling paraphernalia, and something Kaiba had called the "Extreme Elimination Challenge." Inspired by an old Japanese game show (and a current TNN show J), the game was a physical exhibition where people (after suiting up in protection gear to ensure they didn't maim themselves TOO badly) could play for various prizes including good D-Cards by running a series of amusing abet challenging games, in which failure to succeed usually caused you to be dumped in water or mud. To top it off, a variety of comedians kept the audience entertained by various means while the contestants killed themselves. Great fun, and good exercise!

As for the revenge bit, it was subtle but childish. Kaiba had, when picking out the space for the arena, deliberately chosen a place that was near where Yugi lived. Once the arena was up and running, Kaiba had sat back and waited. Sure enough, not ten days had passed when some punk had shown up at Yugi's game shop and called himself "King of the D-Arena." And challenged Yugi to a Duel in said Arena. Yugi had turned him down at first, but after the punk had returned with some friends and egged the shop, Yami had popped up and marched over to the Arena, where he proceeded to kick the punk's ass in a duel six ways from Sunday, and the Dog had done the same thing in a fistfight immediately afterward. However, not three days later another guy was doing the same thing, and Yugi had been pestered with challenges ever since. It kept his skills sharp, and it annoyed him, so it was doubly fun for Kaiba.

Anyway, the D-Dueling Arena, despite these factors, had proven to be a success, especially with kids who couldn't afford good cards. However, people were still curious about the name "D-Dueling". Kaiba had never given an official reason why it was called that, and speculation was still going on what the D stood for was still going. Kaiba had a reason, but he would never reveal it: he felt anyone who needed to use a machine to get good cards rather then earning them the old-fashioned way was a "D-level" duelist at best. "Pure" Duelists, who used the original cards, mostly mocked anyone who played with D-Cards as well. A specific insult had eventually emerged: "Wanna-D's". Kaiba agreed, abet not in public.

He had no idea this new system would eventually led to perhaps the worst day of his life.

Or that the events were already starting to fall into place…

V didn't like Kaiba from the second he saw him. And he knew he wouldn't have liked him even if he'd never met Solomon Moto. He wasn't even seeing him in public, and he knew it.

There were several large TV screens on the walls of the various parts of the D-Dueling Arena. They showed various things (the ones in the actual arenas for D-Cards usually showed exciting D-Duels, for example), but occasionally they all showed the same thing, which was usually an announcement of some kind.

V was standing in the line to sign up an account when the TV had switched to an announcement, and Seto Kaiba had popped up on the screen. It was hard to ignore the ad: the volume was turned up for simultaneous ones, and even more so when Kaiba was on screen.

V turned and watched as Kaiba announced some tournament somewhere down the line. His eyes narrowed as the man spoke.

Everything about Kaiba aggravated V. The permanent condescending look in his eye, despite the fact that he had been looking into a camera when he had recorded the ad: if he looked like that at a CAMERA, he either had a weird mental problem that made him feel superior to cameras or he was so used to viewing others as lessers that it had become forever sketched in his gaze. The way he spoke, like he was trying to explain to an ape how to do a very difficult trick. Even the slight motions he made with his hands screamed "I am so much better then you scum" to V.

No one was paying much attention to V, and hence no one noticed the dark energy that suddenly sparkled across the pupils of his eyes.

"So sign up, and you never know, maybe I'll come along and show you just how a duel is done!" Kaiba said. He briefly held up several cards, real cards. The three at the front were Blue-Eyes: V recognized them from the game shop. He dropped them and stared at the camera for another second before the ad cut out, going back to the specific wall activity that particular TV did.

It seemed like he was staring right at V, and although V could read worlds in his gaze, one thing stood out above all.

_I'm better then you._

"I. Think. Not." V said to himself, and turned back to the line. Dark thoughts whirled in his brain, but one kept playing over and over. A line from Shakespeare.

Seto Kaiba… 

_Full of sound and fury…_

_Signifying NOTHING._

And V, if he got a chance, would make that refrain reality.

But first he needed some cards…

There was a lot of D-Dispensers, the machines that you used to get your cards. V took one near the corner and started typing on the keyboard. He had given false info for his account: he was signing up to play a game, not trying to get a job moving ancient artifacts. He doubted anyone would check too closely. 

V finished off the personality test. The machine told him he was "dark and sinister." _That doesn't even BEGIN to describe me, you fool machine._

Not having any preference, V picked the random quiz. The Duel Monsters trivia stumped him, and he kept getting booby cards when he failed to get the right answers (fortunately, the questions beside the final five were multiple choice, so he got lucky sometimes). The rest were better. V played through the easy and hard questions and eventually made it to the final five.

The first one was a Duel Monsters question. V had no idea what the answer was, so he typed in some nonsense. The machine rewarded him with a good card, rather then the great one he would have received had he gotten the question right. Next one was history: he managed to get half the answer right and got a pretty good card. Next one was Duel Monsters again: again the nonsense answer. _Maybe I should have picked something more specific…_

V waited for the next question. It seemed to be fairly long.

It popped up.

V's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. He couldn't believe how complicated the question was, nor the amount of time he was given to solve it. _40 SECONDS? A question like that would take the average person a WEEK to complete!_

But V was not the average person.

And within his head, a secret weapon lurked. He used it.

To the average viewer, it would seem he was staring at the screen as the timer ticked down, but if you'd stood in front of V, you would have seen his neck tense up and his eyes begin blinking rapidly. They did that for several seconds.

Then V's hands flew out and began typing rapidly, entering in numbers like it was going out of style. He managed to finish the question and enter it a second before the timer ran out. He waited.

There was no fanfare, no giant burst of music or fireworks going off to signify what he had just done. The machine just calmly told him he was correct and discharged a card.

V picked it up and took a look.

"………………………Oh……………..my………" V said, amazed. He knew little about Duel Monsters, but he knew that what he had in his hand was something…

The machine was giving him the fifth question. V knew the answer, but he barely managed to type it in. The machine said he was correct and gave him his final card, then wished him luck and went back to the entrance screen. V numbly picked the card up and added it to his stacked deck. He was too busy staring at the card the fateful forth question had granted him.

He went through his deck, looking at the card he held while comparing things.

"…………..Yes…..oh….hell…yes…." V said.

He snapped the card into his new deck and gave it a quick shuffle. There was still a few things he needed to do, but he also knew he had been given a grand omen.

He looked at the door that led to the D-Dueling main arena.

_Time to play the game._

To Be Continued.


	4. Learning The Ropes

Chapter 4: Learning The Ropes

Writer's Note: Just so you know, if I know what the card looks like I'll go a brief description, but if I don't, I'll just say it showed up. Anyone got a site which has all the card pictures on it?

V walked into the arena and right into hell.

He had expected some kind of spectacle, it being a dueling arena open to the public (and he could bet Kaiba loved to show off), but he wasn't prepared for the storm of light and noise that slammed against his senses.

In order to make sure everyone could hear properly, each public dueling platform was equipped with its own unique speaker system. This blocked out any surrounding noise if you were dueling, but if you were not on a duel platform, the resulting racket was eardrum-shattering. Combined with all the fancy hologram effects and various lights and lasers Kaiba had rigged up, not to mention the three large TV screens showing various duels, and it was as someone had let a group of Dazzler clones into the arena and let them go nuts*.

It was way too much for V. While most of the arenas, roughly forty or so, were open to the public, there were also about ten "private arenas", which one could use for an additional fee. This had several advantages: the arenas were soundproofed, so no ridiculous racket. Also, it was small, so only a few people could watch, and only if you invited them in, this fixing any problems of "backseat duelists" who thought it would be great help if they yelled at the people dueling, offering strategies and such that would more likely then not just annoy the dueling person. However, V still had limited funds, and he didn't want to go around renting private arenas just yet, especially since he had no one to duel with.

He figured, for now, he would make do with the public arenas.

A loud blast of sound came to his right as a hologram of a magic card attacked some duelist and nearly made V deaf in his left ear.

Scratch that. He would make so, as soon as he acquired something. V turned and left, heading for the souvenir shop. He figured they would have what he needed.

Twenty minutes later, V returned to the arena. He looked around and then slipped on the shades he had bought. They were a bit goofier then he had wanted: lots of merchandise had Duel Monsters paraphernalia attached to it, and these shades were outlined by a snarling Blue Eyes dragon at the bridge. But they protected his eyes, and concealed his unusual V scar, so he figured he could live with it. Now, with the sound…he figured he would get used to it. Plus, the shop had not sold ear plugs.

Time to play.

As mentioned, the D-Dueling Arena had several other features besides its special dueling platforms. That was why Tea was there.

You would think that after being pushed around by a jerk like Johnny Steps, dancing arcade machines would prove distasteful to her. However, she could look past the way that idiot had acted for the sake of her greater goals.

Tea wanted to dance, and dancing was hard, in many aspects. So, in order to aid her quest, she had made a list of things she would most likely have to do in order to succeed. One of those things was why she was here.

There were many factors in dancing, but to Tea, the greatest trick was endurance. Grace, style, creativity, those were all important too, but to Tea, endurance was the key to them all. It was usually not a failure in those that led to people's dreams being crushed, but rather the body deciding, at a crucial time, "No, I can't do this" and konking out, leading to unpleasant, embarrassing, and sometimes even dangerous results.

Hence, she was here to enter a contest that had been advertised for the dancing arcade machines that were so popular in Japan. To Tea, not much dancing was needed in these games: it was just a matter of following random patterns as quickly as possible. There was no real knowledge in how to dance in it, but there was something else that Tea knew: it was tiring.

Hence, she was here. She was not here to win the contest (although if she did place in a high spot, that would be nice), but rather to see how long she could last, especially at the murderous blitzkrieg of a pace that the expert levels of the machines ran at. Once she had a decent gauge on how long she could go at peak strength, and how long she could go period, she figured some questions that may have plagued her later in life would be solved.

Plus, she could probably have some fun, and in the end, wasn't that what life was about?

V was NOT having fun.

Now, despite his good fortune, V had not planned to walk in and start dominating. For one thing, that would attract undue attention. For another, he liked to start out slow and play for fun at first. Once he had some idea on how the game was played, and more importantly, how people generally played it, he would have a good idea on how to play seriously, against serious opponents.

He just hadn't expected the first guy he challenged to be so damn good.

"And to finish off this little game, I sacrifice Gemini Elf and Komouri Dragon to bring out the terrible Dragon of the Black Sun!" the kid said, as his monsters vanished and were placed by a spiky, winged black dragon. (2600/2400) "And since I dispatched so many of your Dark monsters, I say…Dark!"

The dragon, which gained 500 points for both categories from whatever type of monster the kid chose, provided said monster was in the graveyard. Immediately went up to 5100/4900. which immediately squashed V's Dark King of the Abyss (1200/800) and his life points.

"Ow. That was…humiliating." V said as his platform lowered. No sooner had he landed then the kid rushed by.

"Like to stay and chat, but I'm in a hurry! Nice game! BYE!" he said, and then Ryo Sai headed off to wherever he was going (perhaps back to the fic Eternal Duelist Soul, from which he was borrowed. Thank you Wise Man Domingo).

V grumbled. Not the best way for his first duel to go, even if he had bit more concerned with testing the opening moves of his strategy.

"Hey you!" came a voice, and V looked at a blue-haired girl of about 12. "I challenge you!"

"What makes you think you can win?" V said calmly.

"Because if you duel like you did against Ryo all the time, it'll be easy!" V peeked over his sunglasses.

"Ok then." V said, and stepped back up on the platform. The girl rushed over to the other end, while V practiced shuffling his hand.

"Ok, you go first!" The girl said.

"Um, ok…." V said, as he looked at his cards. _Bah, just one monster card!_ "Ok, I play Hinotama Soul, in attack mode!" (600/500)

"What, that's it? That was STUPID! Ok, first I play Fire Reaper!" the girl said. The Fire Reaper (700/500) appeared. "Take care of his silly Soul thing!"

The Fire Reaper did, killing the Hinotoma Soul and taking 100 of V's 4000 life points.

"And next I play Vishwar Randi (900/700)! Go, attack his life points directly!" the girl ordered. V lost another 900 life points, leaving him with 3000.

"You are SUCH a sissy!" a young boy yelled at V. V tossed him an amused glance.

"Better to be a sissy now, then when it matters." V said, and continued playing.

He lost.

Tea was thirsty.

The qualifying rounds were over, and the losers had left (not her though, she had qualified). However, as mentioned, the dancing machines required effort, and hence the many thirsty people that had come before her had emptied the nearby vending machines/ Tea didn't want to wait until they were restocked, so she had headed across the D-Dueling facilities in order to get something at the cafeteria.

Her desire to quench her thirst caused the little incident: she wasn't paying close attention to anything, and hence she just say a flash of black in front of her, which she ignored.

A moment later she stepped on the coat that the man was wearing. Worse, a combination of bad timing made her step on the coat in such a way that she put her full weight on her leg at the same time the man tried to take a large step. The result caused him to be abruptly yanked backwards and land on his back rather harshly: his head bounced off the ground a bit. Tea stumbled a bit from the yank, but kept her feet, and hence witnessed this rather painful incident.

"Ow." V said, staying in his position on his back.

"OH MY GOD! I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" Tea asked.

"Yes. Entirely my fault." V said, and then to Tea's surprise, he got up in a unique way: a no-hand leap to his feet that was also known as a "kip-up", and a rather snappy one too.

"Really? But…" Tea said.

"Not a problem miss. Maybe I should keep this thing close to me." V said, pulling his coat in.

"Wow! You're cool!" came a sudden third voice: a young boy addressing V. He was apparently impressed by V's unique way of getting up. "Wanna duel?"

"Sure." V said.

"But…" Tea repeated, still feeling bad she had caused this stranger to fall on the floor.

"It's ok! Don't worry!" V said, leaving with the child to head to a Duel arena. Tea shrugged and continued on her quest for a drink.

Walking back with said drink several minutes later, Tea saw the man again, on a platform. As she watched, a magic card played by the boy took out V's probably trap card, and the boy gleefully attacked with his two monsters, decimating V's life points. V put a hand to his forehead and shook his head, grinning a bit with the kind of laugh that says "Oh. How foolish I must look!". It was the kind of thing only a man who was good at not taking himself seriously could do.

Tea headed back to her contest. She danced the day and most of the night away.

V did the same in dueling.

Tea did a lot better then V did.

Not wanting to go looking for a hotel, for various reasons, V had found a much better place to spend the night: the roof of the D-Arena itself.

It had been relatively easy to sneak up onto it: janitors and backstage personal were not the most observant people. A short amount of time spent watching showed where the few people who did come up to the roof usually went (to smoke cigarettes, or occasionally make out. V hoped it just stopped at that act: he didn't want to be an unseen and unwilling witness to any further acts of that kind). V didn't need comfort to sleep: he had slept in far worse places then a roof of an arena. 

Nearly everyone would look at V's day and term it a total disaster. He had played, with people of all ages, but mostly kids (about half, he'd say) roughly 28 duels, give or take a few.

He had won 2.

Terrible! People might say. A prime example of one's assumption of his skills greatly outstripping said skills.

But those people knew nothing.

V had not planned to start his games by winning. He always started by preparing, and that was exactly what he had been doing today: observing and testing himself and others.

There had been plenty of times where he had had cards in his hand that could have turned duels around or outright won them for him. But he hadn't played them. Mostly because those incidents had involved children. No, pulling out his special card and destroying kids was not what he wanted to do. They wanted to have fun, so he played along. Nothing thrilled a child more then beating an adult at something, and V was happy to oblige.

They were just kids.

They were not Worthy.

The rest had been practice and observation. He had practiced strategies without actually pulling off the final step in them: practiced setting up his main attack card from various angles without actually using it in the end, practiced how the magic and trap cards he had could be used to slow down or baffle his opponents while he played.

And he had watched people, studying everything about them. How they spoke, how they reacted, how their body language flowed as they performed various actions. How different people acted when they were winning or losing or in the midst of their own strategies, looking for the holes and how he could use them to his advantage.

That had been today.

Tomorrow…he would play again. And he would play kids, and probably lose to most of them on purpose, but in a way that suggested they had won due to their own skills and luck rather then purposeful foolishness on his part. But now…he would be looking for a challenge.

He did not want to, nor expect, to find a Worthy yet. And if he did, he would wait. Games with the Worthy were grand, but they were also horrible, for various reasons. No, V would settle for someone with skills.

Then, he would duel seriously, with intent to win. 

And he would.

Indeed, considering the tricks he had up his sleeve, V could have truly set himself up as an invincible champion, an opponent no duelist could ever beat.

Ever.

But there was no fun in that…

With the exception of a few occasions…

One that may very well play out if fate was as capricious with some things as he was…

Pondering these things, V dozed off.

He did not notice his deck, ducked away in a jacket pocket, start to glow. Rather, it was not his deck, but a certain card within it…

Something was very angry.

To Be Continued.

(* Dazzler= A Marvel comics character, with the mutant ability to turn light into sound. Considering how much noise the arena was making, a bunch of them could make a lot of light indeed)


	5. Test of Wills

Chapter 5: Test of Wills

V dreamed, and knew he dreamed.

In his dream he walked through a dark forest, covered with a willowy mist that danced around his face and obscured his vision. Even so, he knew two things.

The trees were gone, blasted by incredibly powerful fires, dark ruined husks, pointless destruction that seemed to indicate a message of some kind.

And that he was not in control of his path. He was being pushed towards something, and he knew he could not turn away.

But that did not cause his step to hesitate. He walked on, calm in step and gesture. He would face whatever he was supposed to without shrinking.

One moment he was in the misty forest.

And the next he was in a temple, a sparsely lit structure made of reddish stone. V looked around, trying to identify the design. He didn't get a chance.

With a roar, the temple exploded around him. The sounds of collapsing stone filled V's ears, but his stature stayed unafraid, even as the shrine fell apart around him.

Even though the roar he had heard was not the sound of the temple collapsing.

It was the sound of a great beast.

Darkness swirled around and above him, and V looked up into it. There. He could not make out anything except a gigantic shape and a terrible aura of ferocity and rage.

A voice spoke in his ear, in some ancient, long-forgotten, long-dead language V did not speak. Yet somehow he understood.

"Foolish man…" 

"I think not." V said quietly. The roar increased in timbre, a blast of rage that shook the remains of the temple.

"YOU DARE SHOW SUCH IMPUDENCE!?! ON TOP OF YOUR FOLLY? Be thankful I do not destroy you where you stand!"

"Folly, you say? Of what stupidity have I fallen prey too?" V said. Lightning crackled in the darkness around V, and he could feel a dreadful heat begin to burn above him, a swirling inferno of power.

"YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHAT DEED I SPEAK OF!" 

"Enlighten me."

"DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME? You have no idea what your unique condition has granted you! But it is not a power you are worthy to tap! Your blood is wrong, and even if it was not, I barely stood for being called by a true card! I WILL NOT LET MYSELF BE SUMMONED BY THAT FRAUDULENT PIECE OF CARDBOARD YOU POSSESS!"

"My, aren't you arrogant?"

"DOES YOUR TEMERITY KNOW ANY BOUNDS!?! AND YOU DARE ACCUSE ME OF SUPERCILIOUSNESS! Heed my words now, mortal! You will awake, and you will immediately destroy that card, or I will bring my wrath down upon you, and your being will cease to exist, as if you never were!"

V stood quietly, arms crossed, looking up into the blistering darkness above him and the massive form that hovered within it.  

"ANSWER! NOW!" 

"I will not." V said.

"……..YOU IMPUDENT INSECT! I SHALL ANNIHILATE YOU WHERE YOU…!"

And then V threw back his head and screamed.

A shard of rock exploded underneath him, propelling him skyward on it's point as the darkness parted before him and then swirled around him, as he was cast upward into the plane of light and fire that the creature made it's home in, hiding it's guise away from the supposed unworthy being that it had decided to confront.

But it was V who decided the worthy, as he rose in front of the beast, the darkness swirling around him and erupting from his being. Dark lightning crackled across his eyes as knives of dark flame exploded from his arms and chest and flew around him, scything the brightness and sending it fleeing in it's wake. Dark energy exploded from around V's back and flowed up and around him. It almost looked like wings.

While the creature showed no fear, it was clearly hesitating, knowing that it had made an error, as it stared at the swirling mass of darkness that erupted from V's being and flowed around him like liquid.

Power. Great power.

"You ask if this is a game? All things are games in the end, dragon." V said, looking at the creature that had confronted him.

"What are you…" 

"You erred. You called me a mortal man. Perhaps I am in some ways. But others…" V said, as swooping blades of darkness snapped out and around him, as if daring the creature to commence it's promised attack.

It did not. Instead it continued its stare down with V. V knew why. The monster had erred, but it was not sure how much so. It wanted to destroy him for his defiance, but it was no longer positive if it had the power to do so. It could risk attacking and find it's efforts successful…or for all it knew, its power may be repelled and it destroyed by a far more dominant being. 

V decided to end it. He did want to get into a fight. For one, the same thing that gripped the dragon held true of him: he may not have enough to win. Also, fighting the creature would be pointless: it would force him to start his whole strategy over, and V hated doing that.

"Look monster…"

"I AM NO MERE MONSTER! I AM…!" 

"Yes, yes. I know. Look, you don't like this situation as it hasn't turned out how you thought it would, and I can see nothing good happening in the direction it's going. So, I would like to propose an agreement."

"What kind of agreement?" 

"I am only using this place, and the card that goes with it, as a base. I have a plan, and the skills and ambition to carry it out. I ask that I be allowed to summon you only for the battles I will need to carry these tasks out. Once that is done, I will destroy the card. I am sure no one else will ever win one. In return, you let me call upon your might to smite my foes into nothingness."

"Your blood is not right…" 

"Some things are far greater then blood." V replied.

The two stared at each other.

"………….Very well. I will strike this temporary bargain. And temporary it is! Once you have accomplished your tasks, you WILL relinquish hold of me, and destroy the fraudulent artifact that great fortune has awarded you, or else I will bring my fire down upon you and make you regret your very birth!"

"Very well then. We have an agreement. Now, why don't you kindly get out of my head." V said.

"BE SILENT!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW DARE YOU ADDRESS A GOD LIKE THAT!!!!!!" 

V's next words were filled with a confidence so great that it even surprised the creature. He spoke in a tone that said he believed in what it said, totally and utterly, and reality may very well be as his opinion.

"All gods must come from somewhere…"

And with that V awoke. It was not because the creature had jarred him out of sleep though. No. While V's mind and being had locked horns with great power in the land of dreams, the tenuous links back to his body had carried to him a message from reality that jarred him from sleep and instantly put all his senses on full alert.

Someone was screaming. 


	6. When Bad Things Happen To Worse People

Chapter 6: When Bad Things Happen To Worse People

One of the many strange things about human society, although perhaps more so of the modern era, is the stigmata to blame a rape victim for what she has suffered (and it is always a she. With the exception of prisons, male rape victims are practically non-existent.) Oh, it is rarely done up front and just as that, but it always seems to be there. Behind the sympathy and help, so many men have that disturbing and disgusting hint of a suggestion that somehow, the victim brought the fate on herself. She wore the wrong thing. She was walking in the wrong place. She said the wrong thing. She looked the wrong way. She gave the wrong impression. She placed the wrong amount of pressure on the ground when she took her 398th step of the evening. Always how she did something wrong. One wonders how many men, if they suffered the same fate, would react to someone subtly accusing them of doing something wrong, considering the horrible wrongness of the act they had suffered.

In any case, perhaps that is best said, in order to keep people from accusing Tea of doing anything wrong when she was attacked.

Now, Tea was not a stupid girl, but everyone makes mistakes, every day, and sometimes they can have terrible consequences.

Perhaps her first mistake was signing up for the contest in the first place. It had run a long time and finished quite late. Tea had finished in fifth place out of a field of 25th, which was pretty good considering she was a traditional dancer and not one of the people with insane memories or eye to foot coordination that usually won contests held on dancing machines. And she had definitely found out how far she could go. Hence, she was sore but satisfied (leg muscle wise, get your minds out of the gutter you hentais) as she headed across the darkened parking lot.

Her second mistake was not calling a cab. She was tempted to, but she didn't have a lot of money to spend, and if she wanted to go to dance school, a good one, she needed to save every cent. Besides, the bus station was just across the parking lot, not through a really bad part of town, so Tea figured she was probably safe.

Her third mistake was making that assumption, but Tea wasn't a fool. She didn't walk across the parking lot knowing she was safe. She, despite her weariness and aching legs, kept her eyes and ears open, and stayed in a well-lit areas as she walked across the mostly deserted parking lot, making sure she kept her eyes open for any potential threats.

Hence, she wasn't paying attention to the bright blue van as she walked past it. And even if she had been, she probably still would have been taken by surprise.

All she heard was the quick low growl-esque noise of a sliding door being opened and then suddenly her nostrils were filled with the scent of ether and a slightly sweet taste was on her lips as her assailant wrapped one arm around her waist while simultaneously jamming a chloroform-soaked rag against her face.

Elsewhere (and this IS important) two men, totally unrelated to the man currently assaulted Tea, drove around the quite night streets of Domino. The quiet outside was matched by the heat, literal and metaphorical, of the men inside the car.

They had but one desire, and they were getting damn impatient. Still, they stayed alert, waiting and hoping, that an opportunity would present itself, and bring them money and pleasure.

What ultimately saved Tea was her dancing.

To match the bad luck she had had earlier, a stroke of good luck came with it. Tea was tired, and like most humans, did not like to be tired. Seeing how she had no books or magazines or people to converse with, she was trying other things to keep herself occupied.

What she had been doing while she was walking was a breathing technique she had read of that supposedly helped exhaustion. The guy who wrote it had theorized that rapid breathing was wasteful, as it flooded the body with nutrients and made them go to waste due to the sheer amount of them and this was harmful or something. Instead, he suggested taking a deep breath and holding it until the need to take another one began necessary but not urgent. He had sounded like a crackpot, but something had reminded Tea of the article a short time ago and she had decided to try it.

Her decision proved to be fortunate, as when her assailant stuffed the rag in her face, she was holding her breath.

Surprise, however, caused reactions she could not control, and there was a slight snorting sound as some of the air within her escaped. Her mind whirled as she realized she was being attacked.

She inhaled, ever so slightly, and immediately her senses began to swim. In the back of her head, she was vaguely aware of being pulled backwards towards the van her attacker had come out of, and her animal flight or fight instincts kicked in as she realized what awaited her if he managed to get her in there, as well if he managed to keep the rag over her face.

And once again, her dance skills saved her. For while she mostly danced alone, she had taken a few couples lessons, and the most important part of beginning lessons is to make sure you knew where your partner's feet are at all times.

In theory, to avoid them.

In this situation, to get a good idea where your attacker's feet are. Which Tea figured out and used as she lifted up her leg and brought her well-muscled limb down as hard as she could, adrenaline giving her an extra kick.

The man behind her yelled as she stomped on his foot as hard as she could, and his grip loosened. Tea broke free, the rag coming away from her mouth. She exhaled and inhaled clean air as she turned around.

The foot stomp had been Tea's innate dance skilled used in a practical way for the situation, but her follow up mood was pure luck and rage, as she reared back her leg and kicked her attacker in the testicles as hard as she could manage. 

Her attacker made a weird groaning bellow as he slumped over, grabbing for his injured privates and dropping the rag.

However, Tea's had pretty much exhausted her supply of bravery with these two moves, and with freedom came the exact situation she was in: she had almost been kidnapped and raped.

The fight part of her instinct promptly died, replaced by the flight part overwhelmingly, and Tea screamed and ran away from her attacker. She heard him curse "Bitch" and stole a glance over her shoulder. Her panic multiplied when she saw her attacker was already back up and stumbling after her.

If logic was in charge at the moment, Tea would have taken note of his features and clothing, as well as the van and quite possibly the license plate, to ensure the conviction of her attacker when he was (hopefully) arrested. However, panic is a poor breeding ground for logic, and a more inevitable response in the modern human when faced with sudden mortal danger, so she didn't.

It also led to another folly. If Tea had been thinking clearly, she would have run towards her previous destination: the bus stop. That direction may have brought cars, or houses, or generally more people to scare her attacker off. However, her innate need to run had overpowered that: it just wanted her to run, and just run.

Hence, Tea ran back towards the D-Dueling Arena, which was closed and abandoned. By the time she realized her mistake, her attacker was already running/shambling after her. She didn't dare double back: even with all the room he could still grab her.

So she kept running. And screaming. And hoping that life would provide her with a good answer for the next problem that arrived.

"HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE!"

It was that scream that jerked V out of his little dream meeting. He was wide awake and alert instantly. He was well versed with screams, and this one spoke of panic and fear.

He stood still for a few seconds, trying to place the direction.

The scream came again. Now he knew.

In overall design, the D-Arena was ultimately two big buildings/domes with a connecting passageway between them. Not wanted to run around the domes in case her attacker ran at an angle and intercepted her, Tea took off down the dark and trash-strewn alleyway of sorts between the domes, still screaming, hoping someone heard her. Maybe someone was still working in the domes. Maybe a helicopter would fly by. Maybe someone had left a shotgun in the alley. Maybe she was fu-

Tea barely managed to avoid running face first into the passageway between the domes that rose up before her, cutting off her path. For a moment her panic almost overwhelmed her: she was trapped and was going to die.

Luck came again though: she noticed a small gap underneath the passageway. Apparently it was slightly above ground level, and that left some room to crawl under. If it was enough Tea didn't know, but she figured she would find out soon enough. She immediately threw herself on the ground and began crawling. Great! It wasn't too tight a…

Someone grabbed her ankle.

Tea screamed again and began thrashing her legs, barely hearing the pain-filled curses of her attacker. She twisted and kicked and managed to free her leg a second before a switchblade knife would have been buried in her ankle. She scrambled out of the reach of her attacker and tried to get up so quickly she nearly tripped and fell on her face again. She managed to avoid that though, and kept running. She had no idea if her attacker would be able to crawl under the passageway himself, but she wasn't sticking around to find out.

In normal cases, the crawlspace Tea had used probably would have been too small for the man, but he was so damn mad that he managed to force himself through the space anyway, his mind burning with the mad justification that these kind of men had, that women deserved everything he did to them and he was damn sure gonna…

And then the slight darkness of the night was blighted out by a greater darkness as a figure dropped down from the roof of one of the buildings and landed in front of him. He was just getting up, and he barely got a good look at the figure when he could see, his eyes filled with confusion.

Then a hand seemingly the size of a glove clamped over his face and lifted him up with inhuman strength.

V had barely seen the man, but he didn't care. He had seen the girl running. He had heard her terror. And he had read the man's intentions and they filled him with rage.

An Unworthy.

_DESTROY._

"I declare you a convert of Zen Buddhism!" V said, as he swung his arm back. "Let your head become one with THE WALL!"

And he slammed the man against the side of the building as hard as he could. Blood and worse squirted between V's hand before it hit the wall itself.

The body fell at his feet. He spat on it.

"Scum."

Calming down a little, V looked at now decapitated corpse and realized something. Eventually someone would find the body, and they deserved to know what crimes the man had committed to warrant such a fate. However, a headless body could be hard to identify…

V noticed the switchblade the man had been carrying, now at his feet. He had an idea. He picked it up, torn the man's shirt off, and wrote the message on the man's chest.

JUST PUNISHMENT FOR A RAPIST.

V wanted to add "He never thought with the right head, so I removed it", but there wasn't enough room. He dropped the bloody knife and wiped his hand on the wall.

And then he remembered the girl.

He had better catch up to her and tell her she was safe. Otherwise her panicked run might bring her right out in front of a car or something, and he didn't want that. With that in mind, he took off after her. She wasn't hard to track.

He could smell her fear.

Yugi woke with a start as his ears filled with the buzzing noise of the front doorbell.

"What the heck…" he said. He realized he could hear someone banging frantically on the door between the buzzes. Intrigued, and a little scared, he jumped out of bed and ran downstairs, neglecting to grab his Puzzle on the way down.

He reached downstairs almost as soon as his grandfather. He could also hear someone yelling outside, but he couldn't make out the voice. It sure sounded familiar…

"What's going on Yugi?" his grandfather was asking.

"I don't know!' Yugi said. He was closer to the security camera display, so he ran over to look.

He arrived at a bad time: just when Tea had gathered enough breath to look up and scream at the camera again.

"YUGI! LET ME IN! HELP ME!"

The sudden noise scared Yugi so badly he nearly fell over, but he recovered quickly.

"Grandpa, it's Tea! She's in trouble! Let her in!" Yugi said, as he ran for the door. He tried to look through the glass, but the darkness outside with the light on inside obscured his view. He could definitely see the hands banging on the glass though.

He vaguely sensed his grandfather hurrying over and punching in the entry code, and no sooner was it finished then the door flew open and Tea fell on, dragging Yugi down with her.

"Yugi! Oh thank god!" Tea said, a hair away from crying. Yugi gaped at the condition of his friend: her clothes were filthy and torn, and her face held an expression of shock unlike anything he had ever seen.

"What happened?"

"I don't know…rapist…call police….might still be after me…help me…oh god….call police…." Tea babbled.

"Rapist? Holy sh-Cats! Grandpa, call 911!" Yugi yelled. He was still sitting on the floor with Tea holding a death grip around his shoulders. In the background, he heard what sounded like a screeching noise. _Tires? Near accident? Drunk?_ Yugi wondered for a moment in the back of his head, and then focused on Tea again.

"It's ok Tea…you're safe now…it's ok…" Yugi said, trying to get up and pull Tea with him. He managed it and managed to drag her a few feet before he put her down again: she was heavy and her shock made her dead weight. Behind Yugi, the door began to swing shut.

"Ok Tea, now tell me…"

And then the last bit of bad luck from Tea arrived. Unfortunately, it was a real bad one.

The door abruptly slammed open again, and Yugi jerked upward, thinking the rapist had indeed followed Tea.

It wasn't. It was worse.

It had been quite a surprise for the two men when the girl had gone running past them, screaming at the top of her lungs. Now, the men weren't given to helping, but it was interesting, especially considering how the rest of their night had been a bust. So, they had quietly nosed the car off the curve and followed the girl, headlights off. She had been so intent on running she had never noticed them.

And in running to the nearest place she knew, Tea inadvertently brought the blight that followed her to a target. They had seen the store before, but it had been locked up tight. But now, if someone answered the girl's cries for help…

When the lights came on they knew they had a score. They had revved the engine, and when the door had opened, they had driven at the door, until to pull an abrupt 180-degree braking turn maneuver usually called a "donut" right before they actually rammed into the game store. That had been the screeching sound Yugi had heard. They had jumped out of the car and gotten to the door before it closed, and they were in.

The newspapers called them the "Dine and Dash" bandits.

"OK FREEZE! DON'T FUCKING MOVE! NOT A FUCKING INCH!" one of the robbers screamed, waving his gun around.

For a moment, Yugi wondered if he was dreaming. This was just too damn surreal. First Tea showed up banging on the door claiming she had just escaped being raped, and no sooner had he begun to digest that then two men burst in (the same two men that had been on the news for weeks, at that!) and started screaming. Well, one did, a guy with stringy blonde hair. The other was rather passive, abet incredibly menacing. Also, a lot bigger.

Yugi's reaction was echoed in his grandfather's, although Solomon had a somewhat more realistic reaction: a ball seemed to form in his stomach, a ball of terrible cold. _Oh no…why now? WHY NOW?_

"DO NOT FUCKING MOVE! CASH! EVERYTHING! NOW! FUCKING NOW!" the blonde robber screamed. Not knowing what his name was, Yugi (in some detached part of his brain that obviously had a sick sense of humor) dubbed the robbers "Cuckoo" and "Stoneface". It was Cuckoo that was screaming at his grandfather to open the cash register, while Stoneface covered his back and swung his gun back and forth between Yugi and Tea and Solomon.

Tea was strangely quiet. If anything, the surreal feeling had affected her even more so then Yugi, shocking her into stunned silence.

"Ok ok…just don't hurt us…" Solomon said as he headed over to the cash register, praying that he could get his grandson out of this safe.

"I SAID FUCKING NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!" Cuckoo screamed. Part of his yelling was impatience, but the other part was his simple enjoyment of his Christian right to brutalize anything he felt was weaker and could be brutalized. 

Solomon tried to open the machine, but fear made his hands sweating and he kept pressing the wrong things.

"NOW YOU FUCKING SHIT! I'LL BLOW YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF RIGHT NOW YOU SENILE OLD FUCK!!!!!!!!!!"

That did it: Yugi had had enough. He realized the danger they were all in, but he could not resist his desire to stand up to the man who was terrorizing his grandfather for no good reason.

"Hey! Leave him alone! You'll…!" Yugi began.

"Shut up kid!" Stoneface finally said.

As he slammed Yugi across the head with the butt of his gun.

Yami had been pretty much sleeping quietly through this whole spectacle. Yugi's abrupt departure had gotten his attention, but while in his Soul Room he lacked full alertness and dismissed it as his Aibou's need to use the washroom. He had not heard any of the commotion downstairs as well.

However, he was not so out of it that he couldn't detect his aibou's pain, when he suddenly got as a huge jolt he almost felt himself.

"YUGI!" he yelled, as he materialized in the bedroom. Who had dared hurt his best friend? He would make them scream…!

V arrived in view of the Game Shop about ten seconds after Stoneface and Cuckoo had made their grand entrance. He immediately realized what had happened. Questions on coincidence and possibilities were shoved aside as he watched Cuckoo yell at the man who had helped him earlier today.

Then Yugi stood up, and Stoneface hit him.

Dark energy sparked in V's eyes. How dare they!

V started for the store, planning to kick the door open and rip both the men apart with his bare hands.

But as he passed the car the men had used, he suddenly slowed down as he noticed a few things. The engine was still running. The keys were still in. The doors were even still open, assumingly to help assure a fast getaway.

V had another idea.

"YUGI!!!!!!!!!" Solomon cried out as Stoneface slammed the butt of his gun across the brow of his young, frail grandson.

"YUGI!!!!!!!!!" Tea echoed, snapped out of her daze, as Yugi fell back into her arms, unconscious, blood gushing from his brow.

"YOU SEE, NOW GIVE ME THE MONEY MOTHERFUCKER!" Cuckoo screamed.

Had Solomon said what his mind and heart had wanted to say, he would have definitely wound up dead, as well as his grandson and Tea. But he never got the chance, as the door from upstairs suddenly slammed open and Yami appeared.

Yami almost wound up, if not dead, at least injured, as both men immediately swung their arms around and began firing at him. The guns were insanely loud, louder then Tea could have ever imagined. Yami lucked out though, as he managed o dive behind the counter as bullets riddled the wall above him.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA! DIE MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!" Cuckoo screamed as he fired. Three seconds later, both guns ran dry. Yami had learned enough about modern technology to know what that meant, and he popped up, prepared to Mind Crush these two humans into…

And then Yami witnessed one of the most crazy sights of his very long life.

Sometime in the chaos, one of the robbers had propped the door open with something, probably to make sure the door didn't close and lock behind them, leaving them trapped in the store until the police arrived. 

It came from outside through the open door, almost like a Wild West lasso, except instead of thick rope, this loop was composed of thin metal. However, it was thrown as true as any cowboy, falling over the shoulders of Cuckoo.

"What the fuck!??!?!?!" Cuckoo cursed.

The loop jerked shut, pinning Cuckoo's arms to his side. The sudden jerk of movement caused Cuckoo's fingers to loosen, and he dropped the gun.

"What the…" Stoneface said, as he began to turn around. Just as a second lasso dropped over his shoulders. A second later, he suffered the same fate, although he managed to hang onto his gun.

And then the robbers were gone, as the tosser yanked hard in a quick 1-2 motion, and both the Dine and Dash bandits were pulled out of the store, yelling and screaming as they went. As he went out, Cuckoo's thrashing knocked over or out whatever he had used to prop the door open, and it closed after him.

"……………Yugi!" Yami said, forgetting about the now gone robbers, as he ran over to Tea. "What happened?"

"They hit him. Call an ambulance! And the cops!" Tea said, her ordeal forgotten as she cradled Yugi's limp body, her small friend seeming even smaller.

Solomon was already on the phone. Yami realized there was nothing he could do, and his memory returned to the robbers. Those bastards! He would get them yet, bizarre exit or not!

He ran to the door and tried to yank it open, but it failed to. Realizing the door was locked again from closing, Yami cursed and leapt over the counter to re-enter the access code. Yugi knew it, and since they often shared the same mind, Yami by association knew it as well. He began inputing it, his mind burning with things he would do to those robbers…

Stoneface and Cuckoo didn't have a pleasant landing, as they bounced a few times from the hard yank, in which Stoneface lost his gun as well. The two of them cursed and tried to get to their feet, but their arms were pinned to their sides so firmly it had drawn blood, and getting up without your arms, especially if you are not accustomed to it, can be a very difficult task.

Then they saw V, who had the other end of both wires in his hands as he glared at the two of them.

"How's yeh?" V said, and took a few steps to the back of the car Stoneface and Cuckoo had planned to use to drive away in.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU! WHAT THE FUCK! LET ME GO! NOW!" Cuckoo screamed, jerking around.

"No." V said. He was doing something, but neither robber could see exactly what.

"Let us go! We'll fuck you up bad if you don't! BASTARD!" Stoneface said, briefly losing his air of indifference.

"I ain't the one getting fucked up." V said.

And he moved slightly as he completed what he was doing, and Stoneface and Cuckoo saw: He was TYING THE OTHER END TO THE BACK OF THE CAR.

And they realized.

"…………NO! YOU CAN'T! YOU CAN'T FUCKING DO THIS!" Cuckoo screamed and cursed.

"Yeah! You can't! You can't do that to us!" Stoneface added.

"I can't do this? Let's take a tally of what you can't do, and did anyway, shall we?" V said, and began ticking them off on his fingers.

"You drive around robbing stores and killing and hurting anyone you decide, whether they resisted or not, because you're both sadistic monsters. Strike 1. You just terrorized a nice old man. Strike 2. You just hit a sweet young child who you have two feet and 150 pounds on with the barrel of a gun, for no other reason that you thought it would be quite fun to hit a sweet young child that you have two feet and 150 pounds on with the barrel of a gun. STRIKE 3. YOU'RE OUT." V hissed, and got behind the wheel of the car.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Cuckoo screamed.

"You're on the highway to hell!" V sang, and stomped on the accelerator.

And that was when Yami got the door open, and had his recent amazing sight topped as he watched a car drive away, dragging the two screaming bandits behind it. It was so amazing he just stood and stared at it as the car rounded the corner and drove off with the shrieking robbers, and he stared after it for a good ten seconds afterward.

Then he turned and went back into the store.

Tea had gotten a wet cloth and had put it against Yugi's wound while Solomon spoke on the phone.

"What happened to the robbers?" Tea asked.

"I'd tell you, but I'm not sure myself." Yami replied.

V drove down the street, ignoring the screams for mercy and of pain behind him. However, he knew he couldn't keep driving down streets like this: even if no one had the model of the car or the license plate, the whole dragging two men kinda stood out.

But V had a plan, as he made a sharp turn into an alleyway. He heard a loud thump as one of the men didn't quite make it all the way around, and the screaming got louder.

"OOOHHHHH, I bet that hurt a lot!" V said, and then his expression got very grim. "Good."

And V drove down to the docks. There was no one around at that time of night, and he was free to drive around, dragging his guests behind him. He did that for a while. The best part was definitely when he found a small patch of sand and drove through it. He didn't think it was possible, but the screaming got even louder.

Eventually though, it stopped. V drove a little longer just to be sure, and then he finally stopped the car and got out.

He took a look. The Dine and Dashers were both quite Dead. And judging from the condition of their bodies, their trip to death's door had taken a lengthy detour through hell.

Good.

He looked at the bodies for a bit. So much suffering wrought, so much potential maybe gone, all because two men couldn't find a better way to make money…

Money…

That reminded V, and he sighed. His funds were already running low. He would need more cash if he wanted to keep going.

And he had a good idea where to get it. The bandits' pants and wallets were long gone, but he had driven into this area for another reason. With all the privacy, it was a good place for certain things.

And V was certain that if he looked around, he would find one.

He left the car and robbers, already forgetting them.

"He's lucky." One of the paramedics said as he put Yugi on a stretcher. "Looks like a glancing blow. If he'd been one step closer, considering the guy who hit him, he'd definitely have a concussion. Maybe a fractured skull."

"What are you going to do?"

"We'll take him in for some tests, but I think he'll be alright." The paramedic said, as he loaded Yugi into an ambulance. Yami had gone back into the Puzzle, which Grandpa had managed to fetch and put on his grandson before the police and ambulance had arrived. Tea was being looked over by other paramedics, while the police went over his shop collecting evidence of what had just happened. He was sure they would have a lot of questions for him, but he knew he wouldn't be able to answer the most important ones.

As Yugi was driven away, in his mind, Yami entered and found Yugi sitting on the floor of his own Soul Room and looking dazed.

"Yugi! Are you ok?"

"A little woozy, but my brain seems to be working. Why did that man hit me?….Yami, please tell me you didn't hurt them!"

"Child, I can honestly say I did not lay a finger on them."

"Then what happened?"

"I have absolutely no idea. But I'll tell you anyway…"

Their names are not important. Neither is the exact nature of their deeds. Let us just say it involves narcotics, spread out on a table, in a warehouse between owners and with no security. Let us call the large, muscular man sitting in a big chair at the table, a man who is clearly the boss, Mr. Lord, and his followers Punk 1 through 6.

We know the name of the man entering. He is called V, and the reason the Punk Sextet did not immediately shoot him is because they mistake him for their friend, Punk 7, who is now outside with a broken neck.

When they realize V is not Punk 7, as he comes up to the table, they all train their guns on him. But the expression on V's face is strange. It looks as if he has recently had a lobotomy: his eyes are glazed and without light, and his face is slack in the way that the lesser minded sometimes are. The Punks yell at him at first, but he does not reply, and his manner is so strange and non-threatening that the Punks foolishly drop their guard and begin to seek amusement with their strange new guest. Perhaps he is a crazy homeless man, or a druggie so badly in need of a fix he has dropped into this strange catatonia to deal. Mr. Lord is more alert, but since he is impatient to finish his deal, he begins to ignore V. If there is trouble, his lackeys will deal with it.

"Hey, what's up man? You wanna buy something?" Punk 1 says in a mocking tone, keeping his submachine gun loosely at his side.

V stares on, dead to the world.

"What's wrong? Don't you speak English? Wha wrooonnnggg, rettarrrrdddd? You nooooo speakaaaaa tha engrishhhhhhhh?" Punk 1 laughs, waving his hands in V's face.

The steel returned to V's eyes, even as his hand snaps up and against Punk 1's face, breaking his nose and driving shards of bone into his brain, damaging it beyond repair, even as V reaches out with his other hand and grabs the sub-machine gun out of Punk 1's hand.

Even before their brains can register danger, V raises his new weapon and opens fire at point blank range at Punk 2's face. Even as his face and brains go exploding out the back of his head, V swings his arm to Punk 3 and makes his head explode. Punk 4 meets the same fate, and an attempt to flee earns Punk 5 a dozen shots to the back. Punk 6, by now, has had enough time to try and get his weapon up, but his panic makes him slip, and he drops his gun. Knowing he will never survive an attempt to pick it up, he raises his hands as V sets his sights on him. 

"I surrender!"

"I'm sure you do." V said, and ventilated him anyway.

A slight click catches V's attention, and he swings around.

Mr. Lord sticks a gun in his face.

As V also sticks his gun in Mr. Lord's face.

For a moment, the two stare at each other.

"You idiot, the safety's on." V says.

Mr. Lord's inability to resist looking is all V needs, as his hand lashes out and knocks the gun out of Mr. Lord's hand. His eyes widen as V smirks, and pulls the trigger.

_Click._

"Nuts." V said, and then quickly dodged back as Mr. Lord takes a swing at him, dropping the empty gun.

"Hold it." V says, holding up a hand. "Let me point something out. You are a big guy. I am smaller then you. I believe I am quicker and more coordinated then you. If we each dive for a floor gun, who do you think will win?"

Mr. Lord is silent, but his angry eyes show the truth in V's words.

"OR, we could settle this like men." V said, and raises his hands in a battle pose. Mr. Lord chuckles angrily.

"Young punk, you just made a big mistake. I was trained by the CIA, and in my 47 years, I have NEVER lost a…!" Mr. Lord says, and then swings at V, trying to catch him by surprise.

He fails, as V dodges to the side, raising his own right fist and pistoning it forward.

CRA-GLORSH! 

Perhaps it was better that the Punk Sextet met death so quickly. It kept them from knowing the terror they would have felt if they saw the sight before them: V standing there, his fist literally stuck inside Mr. Lord's mouth, having driven all his teeth inward in order to make room. With a normal man it never would have worked, but Mr. Lord's size also constitutes a large skull, and V has somehow gotten his fist into his mouth without dislocating his jawbone.

Blood gushes down Mr. Lord's chin, as the sheer shock of the injury has robbed him of the ability to do anything but moan.

"If you were trained by the CIA, then you should know what happens when you open up your fist inside a man's mouth." V said.

_CRRRRRRRACK._

V wiped his hand on Mr. Lord's clothing and takes the money he has on him. He takes what the Punks have as well, as well as the money on the table. He is pleased: this will keep him comfortable for a while.

He is about to leave when he hears the voices.

"Hello? Anyone?"

Intrigued but cautious, V retrieved another gun from the floor and headed around the pile of crates the voice was coming from.

What he saw was surprising: five men, all locked up in the same small cage, so tightly jammed in they couldn't even sit down. Their clothes were filthy, their faces were covered with stubble, and they stank to high heaven. Seeing V, they all begin to make happy noises.

"Oh thank god!"

"Hey buddy let us out!"

"Open the cage! Please!"

V walks in front of the caged men. They continued to plead with him to open the cage.

"Why are you in there?" V asks.

"That sick fuck Grizlow!" one of them says (We will assume Grizlow was the name of Mr. Lord). "He locked us up here, no food, no water, no sleep, NOTHING! All he does is have his goons take us out and beat up every day, while he watches, the sick fuck! We…!"

"No, you didn't understand. Considering this Grizlow's business, you are either in there because of money matters or revenge. So tell me, WHY ARE YOU IN THE CAGE?" V asks again.

They are silent for a few seconds.

"Well…we were in the business…he wouldn't give us anything…so we…well we grabbed his kid…but we weren't going to hurt her! But he was taking his time, and she was old enough, and we decided to have some fun, and…" one of the men finally babbled.

"Yeah, we didn't MEAN for her to suffocate!" another one of them blurted out. V's expression darkened.

"The good news is, Mr. Grizlow is dead." V said.

The men in the cage cheered.

"The bad news is, you're not getting out of that cage." V said, and turned and left.

The men yelled after him, begging him to come back. When he doesn't, they curse him, even as he turns the corner around the boxes again.

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

"Hey shut up! You see that gun! He could have turned us into Swiss cheese! Relax! If Grizlow's dead, someone else may show up, and they'll let us out! So lets get ready to…"

A strange mechanical noise suddenly filled the air.

"What's that?" one of the men asked.

And then V made his return.

Driving a forklift.

He carefully inserted the prongs under the cage and lifted the men up. The men yelled at him again, asking him what the hell he was doing. V turned around and drove out of the warehouse.

Heading for the nearest pier.

The men realized his intent and began screaming even louder, begging for mercy.

"Oh god please NO!"

"You can't DO THIS!"

"For God's sake, HAVE MERCY!"

"Is that what that child asked for? Did you give her any?" V asked, as he drove down the pier, getting close to the end. The screaming, by now, had generated into mindless noise as the men panicked.

And then V stopped, right as the cage hovered over the water.

The men stopped screaming and were silent for a bit as V sat in the forklift, watching them. A few of them began to laugh nervously.

"Heh, funny man, now why don't…"

"No."

They were quiet again.

"You took a child. You took one of the purest forms of POTENTIAL there is. And you took her innocence. And then you took her last breath." V said, and then he got up and suddenly swung up onto the forklift's loading mechanism.

"So I'm TAKING YOURS."

And with that V violently kicked the cage, sending it toppling back into the water. The men's final scream cut off abruptly as they sank like the proverbial stone.

V watched as a few bubbles emerged from the water, with eyes as cold as ice.

They soon ended.

V left the forklift and the docks. He wasn't going to head back to the Arena: the police may have found the rapist's body, and that would be no place to sleep.

He found the nearest hotel that wasn't a complete dive and checked in. Tomorrow he would go back to dueling, and hunting for a Worthy.

Even so, it had been a good night.

A good night indeed.

"It's all riiiiggghhhttt, it's all riiiiggghhttt, it's all riiiiggghhhttt, I'm just a little crazy….It's all riiiiggghhhttt, it's all riiiiggghhttt, it's all riiiiggghhhttt, I'm just a little crazy…."

Fight, "Little Crazy".

To Be Continued (and we finally get to dueling!)


	7. Inevitable

Chapter 7: Inevitable

A popular cartoon joke is the "fall through the floor" sight gag.

It is usually executed as such: a character, for some reason, is intensely pacing back and forth. The person does this for so long that the floor wears out and the person falls through it. Of course, in real life this would be nearly impossible. Your shoes and feet would wear out long before you weakened a floor via constant motion and weight on it to fall through it.

Nevertheless, Joey was doing his best to mimic the actions of the sight gag. Not so much the "fall through the floor" bit as the "pace intensely" bit. He didn't know what else to do: Yugi was in the hospital.

"Joey, RELAX. The doctors said he'd probably be released this morning. It's ok." Tea said. The cops had taken her statement while she was being treated for her minor cuts and bruises, and she had spent the night at the same hospital for observation. Part of her wondered if she should be reacting worse: she had nearly been raped last night, as well as that terrible experience with those brutal thugs who had hurt Yugi. However, the incident had somehow distanced itself from her and become unreal, more like a dream then an actual experience. She wondered if she would be feeling this way if the guy…Tea shuddered and banished that line of thought to oblivion.

"There's no guarantee, Tea. There could be unseen complications, or he could have some weird brain disease that the impact woke up, or…!"

"Joey, you've seen too much ER! Now quit pacing before you wear a hole in the floor!"

Somewhere off in the distance came the sound of something collapsing. Joey and Tea looked quizzingly at the end of a hallway as some repairmen ran by. Joey overheard a snatch of yelled conversation as they ran past "That's the forth wall this week!".

"Don't let that fool you, hospital life is really quite dull." Yugi's voice suddenly said. Joey and Tea turned to see their friend, who had come through a door while they were looking in the direction of the noise.

"Yugi!" Tea said, as she got up. She would have hugged him, had the doctor not stopped her with a gesture.

"He's relatively ok, but I don't think grabbing him would be a good idea." The doctor said. Indeed, Yugi had a large bandage on his head, which messed up his fancy hairstyle.

"It looks worse then it feels." Yugi said, indicating the bandage.

"Yes, he's a lucky child. If he'd been half a step close to the man who did this, he probably wouldn't be standing here right now. Well Mr. Muto, you have the pills we gave you. Take the bandage off in a few days to see if the swelling has gone down, and remember to take the medicine for the next couple of weeks. Just because you were lucky doesn't give you an excuse to be careless." The doctor said, and turned on his heel and left, heading to whatever new task he had to do in the frantic world of hospital medicine.

"Man Yug, I wish I couldn't been there. Could've helped you somehow…" Joey said.

"It's ok Joey. It's not like you're physic or anything…how are you Tea?"

"Ok…I guess…" Tea said. She didn't FEEL too bad. Did that mean she was ok?

"Oh! Joey! The bandits…what happened? Yami said he saw them being dragged off behind a car of all things…!"

"You got me Yug. Tristan's here too, he went to get a paper…didn't your friend see anything else?"

"He didn't say…don't know why he would keep anything from me…" Yugi said, picking up the Millennium Puzzle from the chain around his neck and looking at it. He was about to speak to Yami when he saw a rush of brown in the corner of his eye.

"Yugi! How you doing buddy?" Tristan said, holding a paper to his chest. The text Yugi could see around Tristan's arm was upside down, so he couldn't read anything.

"Better then I look." Yugi said. "What's in the paper?"

"They found the Dine and Dashers. Or what's left of them…" Tristan said, tossing the paper on a nearby table. The front page was plastered with the story, with the best photos of the crime scene the newspaper could get.

"Ugh. I almost feel sorry for those punks." Joey said, reading some of the details.

"It gets worse. In a way. You said the guy jumped you outside the D-Arena, right Tea?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah."

Tristan opened the paper. Page 2 was more on the demise of the Dine and Dashers. Page 3 had the story of what had been found near the D-Arena.

"Geez! He was killed…too? What…what happened that night?" Tea said in shock.

"It says here he was decapitated…geez, first the car and then that. Must have been a full moon or something." Joey said.

Yugi was about to say something, when a nurse pushing a wheelchair-bound patient bumped into Yugi. He apologized and moved out of the way.

"We shouldn't say here guys, we're getting in the way. Let's go to Grandpa's…say, why isn't he here?"

"Police spoke with him a long time. By the end he was so tired that once he got news that you were basically ok he immediately dozed off. Man, it must suck to get old." Joey said.

"Well, in any case let's go back to the Kame Shop. Maybe we can learn some more about what happened last night."

In the dark chambers of his Soul Room, Yugi's appeared and waited. Not five seconds later, Yami appeared.

"I assume you saw what I saw." Yugi said.

"I did. And I can't say I'm sorry. Those men were brutal scum, and died as they lived." Yami said.

"Well, I don't…in any case…uh, Yami?" Yugi said, pointing.

"What?" Yami said. He looked in a pool of water that happened to be nearby (Soul Rooms tended to be ever shifting in their looks and possessions, though the core of the being they represented remained the same) and saw what Yugi was talking about. He tended to manifest himself as a mirror image of his aibou, abet older, and he had been doing that for so long he had inadvertently put a bandage around his head. He smirked and it disappeared.

"You're too much like me in some aspects." Yugi said, grinning. The grin quickly faded. "Yami, did you see who was driving the car?"

"No. The angle was wrong, and even if it wasn't, two screaming men tend to catch your eye. Yet I have to wonder… Tea came from the D-Arena, right?"

"Yeah."

"And her…attacker was found dead there as well."

"Yeah…man…hey, you don't think…?"

"That it may have been done by the same person? Quick possible. The savagery of one act mirrors the other. I don't know who did this, but I'm just glad his rage was turned on those who would hurt us and not us."

"But…what's going to happen next?"

"If it was the same person, I feel pity for whoever arouses his anger next."

Yami was partly right: someone who had aroused V's anger was in trouble. Fortunately for him, it wasn't the bloodletting kind.

The D-Arena had been, as V had expected, closed when he had shown up, as the police poured over the crime scene that V had contributed too. There was a large crowd there already, so V had simply mingled and waited. With the cash cow this arena was, Kaiba would surely be in the midst of pulling strings to get it opened ASAP. Besides, there was no evidence inside the facility to find anyway. In any case, the facility had opened roughly 20 minutes after V had arrived, and he had gone in to duel.

He had lost a few more duels to kids, and then something had caught his eye and ear. A group of unpleasant looking kids had ganged up on two others, basically forcing them into a duel for a card one of the two had. The two kids had haggled the duel into being "no trap cards". Unfortunately, the public machines could not be modified to enforce this rule, so the only thing the kid had was the lead nasty kid's word. And sure enough, the nasty kid had used a trap card and gone on to win. The other child had protested this cheating, but it was quite clear that the gang of kids was now prepared to resort to more physical methods to get the car they wanted. Angered, V had stepped in and challenged the lead punk kid.

And he hadn't held back this time. A vicious opening barrage had knocked the Lead Punk Kid's life points down to 300 before the kid had managed to erect a defense. After that it seemed the duel had turned against V, as the punk chipped at his life points. He was down to 1200, and the punk was getting extremely cocky.

Too bad for him, as he didn't realize he was about to walk right into a trap.

"Ok, next I play the Brayblade!" the punk kid said, as he laid a card down. A spinning disk hologram appeared.

V and the punk kid stared at it.

"I SAID BRAYBLADE! BRAYBLADE! NOT BEYBLADE! WRONG ANIME, MORON!" the punk kid yelled. The spinning disk hologram vanished and was replaced with a weird donkey creature with a sword (1200/800).

V had two cards face down on the field. The punk tried to end the duel, only to have V's Wakobu card stop the attack.

"You can't hide forever!" the punk taunted.

"No need. I play Queen's Double, in attack mode." V said. The Queen's Double appeared. (350/300)

"What a stupid card! Let's end this! I play Mystery Hand!" the punk said. The Mystery Hand appeared (500/500). "And now I sacrifice the Mystery Hand and the Brayblade to bring out the terrible BEAST CREATURE!"

An orange scaly lizard-wolf monster appeared (1800/1500). The dramatic way the punk had announced his new monster made V unable to resist.

"OH NO! It's not just a beast! It's not just a creature! It's a…BEAST CREATURE!" V said in mock horror, and pretended to hide behind his dueling platform.

"You should be scared. Let's finish this! Beast Creature, kill that Queen's Doable!" the punk kid said.

"How original. Activate other face down card." V said. Three robed women appeared and stopped the Beast Creature's attack.

"Another Wakobu? You chicken! Quit running away!"

"I'm not retreating, I'm advancing in another direction. And it has served me well. This duel is over."

"No it isn't! My monster is way more powerful then yours!"

"Don't you know what the Queen's Double can do?"

"Suck?" the punk kid said. V could swear the female hologram of the Queen's Double actually looked cross at that comment.

"No. It can attack life points directly."

"Hah! But…"

"You have 300 life points left, moron. How many attack points does my Queen have?"

The look on the punk's face as his effort to go for raw power over precision blew up in his face as V's trap snapped shut was worth it all.

"Goodbye. Queen's Double, finish it off." V said calmly. The punk kid yelled in surprise and rage as the Queen's Double went around his Beast Creature and took the rest of his life points. V got off his platform and went over to the now sullen leader.

"Give me the card you promised." V said calmly.

"No!"

"You cheated to win it. Cheaters never prosper. Now, the card. Or we could take it up with the gamekeepers here. I hear the frown on deals broken."

The punk kid looked like he had swallowed a lemon, as he angrily reached into his pocket and gave back the Wingweaver card he had "won."

"There. That will be all. Ta." V said, and turned to leave.

The punk kid took a swing at V's back.

None of the other people really saw what happened, as V whirled and grabbed the punk's arm, yanking him violently off the ground and face to face with V. The kid yelled in pain and then went deathly quiet as he looked into V's intense, burning gaze. V had stared down far more potent foes with this look then the punk kid, and it was the equivalent of using a whole can of Raid on one insect.

"A word to the wise, child. Don't hunt what you can't kill." V said quietly, and dropped the kid. He landed on his ass and just stared dumbly as V turned and walked away.

The eyes of the man he had dueled that day would haunt the rest of his days.

V gave the card back to the two children, accepted their thanks, and went on his way. He needed a drink. He bought one and headed to the exit to the dueling arena. There were some benches there, right outside the tunnel which lead to the D-Arena's other facilities, and it was the quietest place in a place filled with constant noise. V sat down, stretched his legs out, and stared at the ceiling, sipping his drink.

He didn't have to wait long for something to happen.

"I told you it was a bad idea." Rex said as he took a swig of his soda bottle. Weevil didn't reply, but his furious glare said it all. Out of the small amount of respect Rex had for his semi-friend/always-rival, Rex didn't say anything else. He didn't really have to. The situation did it all, and he found it pretty funny. Even more so because he had called it.

The whole thing had started about five days ago. Rex and Weevil were firmly in the "Wanna-D" camp, thinking anyone who had to pay for the chance for cards was lacking the true essence of a duelist. However, Rex had been intrigued about Kaiba "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" after seeing it on TV a few times, and had decided, on a  whim, to see if he could go sign up on it. He was certain he could avoid the wet and rather painful fates that usually happened to anyone who went on the show and win something good. So Rex had headed for the D-Arena.

Weevil had come with him for a different reason. One of the features in the large arcade was something called "Speaker's Corner", where people could get in a soundproofed booth (the place was noisy) and put in money to speak their opinions on stuff. You usually only had two minutes, but if you put in more money, you could speak longer (however, unless you were exceptionally entertaining, you could expect your long speech to be heavily cut, if it aired at all). Every two weeks the D-Arena would put a bunch of the recorded bits together and play them on the screens in the arcade and gift shop for an hour.

Recently, a glut of kids reading poetry had started an unofficial poetry contest. The editors had played along and started running "rank" poems on every show (from 1-3). Weevil had, unfortunately, been inspired by this, and had come with his own poem. Rex had told him, REPEATLY, that it was a bad idea, especially after skimming Weevil's little ode. But Weevil hadn't listened.

Rex had found he was too early to sign up for the next installment of MEEC, but Weevil had had no problem reading his poem. An 8 ½ minute long sonata about the glory of (what else), bugs.

Rex had come back this day to sign up, and had. Weevil came along to "see my great poem at No 1!". Rex had known that wasn't going to be the case, but even HE hadn't expected the utter hilarity of what had happened.

They had aired Weevil's poem, all right, and in total, without cuts. But it hadn't been in the poem rank section. It had been the "Mort of the Month" bit for that month (Rex had no idea who Mort was, but he assumed it was someone the editors knew who they had thought was very stupid). While Weevil had read his poem, the editors had put in "speech bubbles" with snarky (abet funny and clever comments), drawn on his image with those programs sports broadcasters used to show how plays and such had gone down, and done various other jokes. Overall over 50 jokes were made at Weevil's expense, and the whole arena had been roaring at the end.

Weevil was, understandably, utterly furious. Rex gave him credit for not throwing a fit right then and there though: he apparently knew, as Rex did, that it would just draw attention to him, and a volley of new jokes would be made as soon as people realize this month "mort" was in their midst. So the two of them had gotten drinks (Rex's treat, which was rare, but a small part of him did feel bad at how his semi-friend had been treated, even though Rex KNEW he had set himself up for it), and tried to leave as quietly as possible so that no one would see Weevil and make fun of them.

And so they had gone, with Weevil taking a big sip of his drink.

And not paying attention to where he was going.

And tripping over the long legs of V, who was looking at the ceiling and not able to see the small child walk towards him.

Weevil landed on his drink, squashing it and spraying him with soda as the cheap cup exploded. A second later, Weevil exploded.

"YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE YOU BASTARD! IT'S NOT FUNNY! YOU ARE NOT FUNNY!" Weevil roared, cutting off V's apology and surprising Rex. He had no idea Weevil could roar. Weevil was the calm, sneaky type, not the raging type. 

"Whoa! Look kid I'm sorry, I didn't see you…" V tried to say, sitting up.

"LIAR! SHUT UP!" Weevil said, and then to Rex's great surprise he actually took a swing at V. Man, Weevil WAS angry!

Not like his anger would help him in a combat situation. The first punch missed outright, and V put his hands on Weevil's shoulders to try and calm him down. Weevil took a few more swings, but his range was too short, and Rex had to keep from laughing again as the old cartoon cliché played out with Weevil's swipes just missing V and V's arms keeping Weevil from getting any closer.

"Kid, I'm sorry. Calm down. Calm DOWN." V said, nicely but firmly. And Weevil seemed to listen, though Rex bet it was more of a realization of how foolish he looked then him actually listening to V. Weevil stepped back and adjusted his glasses.

"You spilled my drink. Did you think that was funny?"

"No kid. Accident. Look, I'll buy you a new one…" V said, standing up and rummaging in his pockets.

"It's not the drink! It's the principle! You can't…I oughtta…!" Weevil said.

Then V, while looking for his money, turned slightly, and his deck fell on his pocket. Weevil looked at it, and then a look of sudden angry realization came into his eyes.

"Forget the drink! You have insulted the great Weevil Underwood, bug duelist extraordinaire, and you must be punished! Ergo, I challenge you a duel!" Weevil said. He knew just how to feel better about himself and all those idiots laughing at his insight about the beauty of insects: use his insect cards to tear a duelist apart. And this tall guy looked perfect: Weevil could just see him laughing in his ignorance. How dare he! He would show him!

"Oh, you sure I can't make this up to you by buying you another Pepsi?" V asked.

"No, you coward! You will duel me, and be devoured as if a swarm of army ants rose up and covered your being!"

"…..Ok. If that's what you want." V said.

And then he and Weevil took a few steps…each going in the opposite direction of the other: Weevil towards an exit, V back into the D-Arena. The two stopped, confused.

"Where are you going?" Weevil asked.

"Uhhhh, my cards only work in here…hence…" V said.

Weevil looked at Rex, and then the two of them started laughing.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! A Wanna-D! This will be even easier then I thought!" Weevil laughed.

"You know, how you get cards doesn't really matter…" V said.

"That's what you think! But you're just a lesser in the end, no matter what you claim! Now, since you're so pathetic we can't even leave the arena, we may as well get going so I can trash you and show you how much better a pure duelist is!"

"Good luck on that Weevil. Looks like it's rush hour." Ex said, indicating the noisy lines of public machines. Indeed, all were full, and most had lineups.

"Bah! Of course the Wanna-D can hide behind…"

"I'll pay for a private arena." V said quietly.

"….Well then, fine! You should! It's an honour that a pure duelist like I would challenge a mere Wanna-D! And you'll find out why in a moment, uh, whoever you are!"

"The name is V."

"Well V, you are about to be crushed! Don't believe me if you will, but in the end you have no idea what you are getting into!" Weevil said, his anger having turned into cocky anticipation of an easy and satisfyingly crushing victory. He headed for the nearest private arena entrance.

V had been holding his deck in his hands after it had fallen out, and as Weevil headed for the door, Rex behind him, V did a hand snapped and sprayed out the cards in his hands. He found his special weapon and took it out.

The eyes in the card seemed to gleam back at his.

Yes, it was time.

"Neither do you." V said, and followed.

"Ok Wanna-D! Do you want to play by Duelist Kingdom rules or Battle City? Either way, you are going to get squashed!"

"Battle City." V said. The two of them were in the private arena now, and after the loud noise and flashy lighting of the public arena V was relishing the quiet.

"Very well! Prepare yourself Wanna-D! You're going to be my leading example of how great bugs are!"

"And I say this duel's lifespan will be shorter then a dayfly's." V said, trying an insect-themed pun in return. He grimaced inwardly. No, he wouldn't be using that motif.

"I think not! Now, let's start so we can finish!"

"Fine." V said, as he stared across the playing field at Weevil, Weevil met his gaze.

"Let's duel!"

To Be Continued.


	8. V vs Weevil: Bug Off

Chapter 8: V vs Weevil: Bug Off

As the gaming platform tallied up V and Weevil's 4000 life points, V pondered the decision of who should go first, and eventually offered it to Weevil. Weevil took it with another comment on how stupid V was because he was a "Wanna-D".

"It doesn't really matter who goes first! I am a regional champion on top of being a pure duelist! You beating me is next to impossible, V!"

"Impossible is a matter of perspective, Weevil." V said. "Make your move."

"Ok then…" Weevil said, as he drew out his Skullmark Ladybug. _Let's see if he's as stupid as I think!_ "I play Skullmark Ladybug (500/1500), in attack mode!"

V looked at the insect. _Hmmmmm, if its so weak he must have an angle…and I think I will actually fare better if I seem to fall for it._

"Ok then. I play Cyberstein! (700/500) Crush that bug." V said calmly. The Cyberstein appeared and smashed the Ladybug into bits.

"Fool! All you did was help me! When that card is sent to the graveyard, I gain 500 extra life points. You're even more pathetic then I thought! You flew like a bug into a zapper!" Weevil said, as his life points went down to 3800 and then back up 4300. "I'll add to your pain! Killer Needle (1200/1000), in attack mode! Get that Cyberstein!"

The Killer Needle did just that, dropping V's life points to 3500.

"Ok Weevil." V said as he drew. "I play two cards face down and then play Hibikime (1450/1000) in attack mode." V said.

Weevil expected V to attack, but he just stood there, looking at Weevil calmly. _He must want me to attack! Or maybe he wants me to think that and not attack! Or…ARGH!_ Weevil thought, as he drew. He usually could think much clearer, but the incident with the fools wrecking his lovely poem was eating at him. He looked at the drawn card.. _AHA! My Cocoon of Evolution! I know what I'll do! I'll attack, and if I get caught I'll pretend to retreat and lead this little Wanna-D into a hornet's nest!_

"Ok V! I'll top your monster with this magic card, Armour with Laser Cannon!" Weevil said. The Killer Needle got an upgrade as its points went up to 1500/1300. "Now, destroy the Hikibime!"

"Not this time. Activate trap card, Shadow Spell." V said. The trap activated, reducing the Flying Needle's attack points by 700, down to 800. "And now I'll add my face down magic card, Rush Recklessly, which will add 700 attack points to my monster. Abet for one turn, but that's all I need." V said, as his Hibikime's points jumped to 2150. "Do what you do best."

The Hikibime did just that, smashing Weevil's weakened Flying Needle and dropping his life points to 2950. Weevil growled, somewhat annoyed but pretending to be more so.

"Don't think you've done anything special! My deck is like an anthill! For every creature you defeat, ten more will take it's place!" Weevil said. He drew another card. _Yes, my Larvae Moth! But I won't play it yet, no. I'll wait a bit more. Until then…_

"I play a face down card and end my turn." Weevil said.

V looked at Weevil. _Hmmmm. I get the idea that this guy is playing against type. He strikes me as a sneaky person, yet he's not using an overall sneaky strategy. But why? He was mad about something…maybe he sees me as a kind of revenge? That might explain his aggression. Well then, I'll see if I can't play up to his "Wanna-D" label and do something stupid._

"I call your bluff! Hikibime, attack his life points directly!" V said.

"No bluff, fool! Activate Vortex! This little storm will snare up your monster and keep him from attacking!" Weevil said, as his card tangled up V's Hibikime.

V's look remained unchanged, and Weevil felt himself getting annoyed again. He drew a new card, hoping he could get a monster or power-up that would let him take care of V's Hibikime.

What he got was even better, and he managed to refrain from chortling. The duel was over.

"It has been fun Wanna-D, but it was even shorter then I expected! Now, I will end this! First I play this card, Great Termite Mound!" Weevil said. A gigantic slab of spongy-looking sandstone-esque material rose up from the field. "This is a permanent trap card! Any monster that attempts to attack will be swarmed by termites and devoured, causing their instant destruction! True, it can only do this for five attacks, but that's all I need! Because I will follow it up with this, the Larvae Moth! Yes, this is not all that impressive, but after I equip it with the Cocoon of Evolution, it will become the Perfect Ultimate Great Moth, and you will be torn apart as if you wandered into the great fire ant nests of…" Weevil's long-winded speech suddenly broke off into a coughing fit as he ran out of air.

"You ok?" V asked.

"Yes, but you're not! It's time, V! This is about to become as painful as the bite of the New New York Flying Broadway Cockroach!"

"Uhhhhhhh…right. Never heard of that one." V said, looking as the Cocoon appeared on the field, as the gestation began.

"You people know nothing! But know this is hopeless! Even IF you can get a monster on the field with enough power to destroy my cocoon, you have to get around the Mound first! And I doubt you can do that! It's over!" Weevil chortled.

"Right." V said, as he drew. _Ah. Now I can begin._

"I play Armaill (700/1300), in attack mode." V said, putting a friend on the field for his Hibikime. Weevil expected V to make the Armail attack the Mound to try and exhaust one of the five defense moves, but V ended his turn instead.

"Four turns until your doom!" Weevil said, as he drew and ended his turn.

"Ryu-Kishin(1000/500), in attack mode." V said, putting a third monster on his side. Once again, he didn't attack. Weevil began to get annoyed.

"Must be planning something…fusion maybe…?" Weevil said as he drew. "Three turns until the end!"

"Queen's Double (350/300), attack mode." V said. Once again, he did not attack.

Weevil's brow arched. _If he was going for a Tribute summon he would have done it already! He must be trying a fusion of some kind, or maybe a ritual…_Weevil thought as he drew. Aha! This would put a crimp on his plans!

"I see you seem to be mounting a panicked defense of some kind, hoping to turn the tide! But not after I play this card: Restrict Mantis!" Weevil said. A praying mantis monster appeared. "This permanent magic card makes it impossible for you to fuse monsters! So if that was your plan, it's finished! I have fried it like an ant under a magnifying glass!"

"Weevil, may I ask a question?"

"If it's for mercy, no!"

"No. I just wondered, are you going to make a threat that's, you know, actually threatening?" V asked.

"SHUT UP! It's all over in…!"

"Two turns, yes I know, I can count." V said. He drew. "A face down magic card, and I end my turn."

"And so it ends! Prepare to perish on my next turn, V!" Weevil said, as he drew a card and ended his turn.

V drew.

"Ah, finally! I play Dust Tornado! This destroys one magic or trap card on the field, and I'm getting rid of that little nest of yours!" V said, as his magic card vaporized the termite mound.

"You stupid little Wanna-D! You think this means anything? You're TOO late! None of your monsters can stop my Moth, even now in the moments before its birth! And those moments are over! Hatch, my Great Moth, and bring destruction in your wake!" Weevil crowed. The cocoon cracked open and the Perfect Ultimate Great Moth (3500/3000) emerged, the giant hologram towering over V.

"Oh, how nice of you to leave me so many targets! But I know just what monster I am going to destroy! Moth, squash that Queen's Double!"

The PUGM did so, smashing the far weaker monster and sending V's life points plummeting down to 350.

"Take your final turn V so this can end!" Weevil said.

"Indeed."

"Excuse me?"

"This is my final turn, because this is ending. But not the way you think." V said. "I will start by activating the magic card I laid down on the field, Mourn of the Fallen!"

"Mourn of the Fallen? What does that do?" Weevil said in the always needed "please ask what it does so I can explain" bit needed every time a new card was introduced.

"Mourn of the Fallen activates when a monster is sent to the Graveyard. It lets me draw four new cards from my deck, if you destroy the monster the card is laid next to. And I knew you would go for the weak Queen's Double, so I laid it next to her." V said, as he drew the cards. "And that brings me to the next, and final move for both of us. Nice trick with the Mantis, but I'm not going for a fusion." V said as he drew a card out of his hand and held it up.

"Then what are you going for?" Weevil asked.

"A tribute. With this." V said, and turned the card around to Weevil could see it. His eyes, perhaps even more so then the expression usually means, almost bugged out of his head.

"NO! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Impossible is a matter of perspective, Weevil."

The next forty seconds were among the worst of Weevil's life.

Rex was finishing up his magazine when the door to the private area opened and Weevil stumbled out. Rex's brows arched when he saw Weevil's state: disheveled and almost…sooty.

Then he realized why Weevil looked like that, and he began to howl.

"YOU LOST! TO A WANNA-D! THE GREAT WEEVIL UNDERWOOD, LOSING TO SOME PUNK WITH A FAKE DECK! OH GOD, AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!" Rex laughed. Steam seemed to be on the verge of shooting from Weevil's ears…and then, a wicked grin split his face.

"Well Rex, if you think it's so funny, why don't you go challenge him yourself!"

"…..Ha! You know what, I will! I'll show you how to handle a Wanna-D, Weevil! Unlike you, I can walk the walk!" Rex said, and strutted past Weevil into the private arena.

Weevil sat down, brushed himself off, and waited.

Roughly ten minutes later (about half the time Weevil had dueled V), the door opened again and Rex stumbled back out. If Weevil had been sooty, Rex was practically wearing blackface. He looked at Weevil in stunned horror and disbelief.

"He's got a…!"

"I know." Weevil growled.

"How did he…!?!?"

"I don't know! Forget it! Let's get out of here before someone sees us! Next time, it will be different!" Weevil said, grabbing the still stunned Rex and heading for the nearest exit, just wanted to go home, go to bed, and forget this day had ever happened.

A few seconds after the two had left, V emerged at the door, calmly shuffling his deck. He picked a certain card and held it up.

"Vicious, aren't you? Even as a hologram, you blackened them a bit. I can almost admire that…in a way. Well my ally, this is just the beginning. I'd say it's time to get serious." V said.

The card didn't reply, but for a brief moment, its eyes seemed to glow.

It was well pleased.

To Be Continued. Next Up: Suffer the Little Children!


	9. Suffer The Little Children

Chapter 9: Suffer The Little Children

V was coming out of the store when he saw her.

It was a day after he had bested Weevil and Rex in the duels, and he had gone back to it, refining his strategies and throwing games now and then. He knew this would rapidly start to become tedious though. Playing with people who played for fun was great, but V needed a challenge. Weevil and Rex had had some skill, but they had been done in by their own arrogance and their assumption that he wouldn't be a thread because he used "fake" cards.

As well as a challenge, V had another problem: liquids. The D-Arena, via the huge amount of machines and the giant crushes of people, tended to be very hot, and the coat V wore to disguise his unusual outfit didn't help. Hence, he found he was consuming a large amount of liquids, and that was starting to eat into even the considerable funds he had stolen from the drug dealers. And not knowing how long he would be here, he wanted to conserve SOME money, so he had finally bit the bullet and purchased a "special" cup from one of the restaurants that also sold souvenirs. (And V only wished that struck him as strange, but in a world where people were so lazy they might actually get mad if someone suggested they eat at one place and then walk down a flight of stairs to buy some gifts, it only made too much sense). In any case, the cup allowed you to get unlimited refills at cheaper prices, or just fill it with water. Also, it claimed to be "practically indestructible", which V had thought was a marketing gimmick when he bought it to actually justify the price. But to his mild shock, it had actually proven to be just that, resisting his attempts to break it. Not a bad deal.

In any case, he had the cup, and he was walking out of the store when he saw her.

It wasn't a full on glance, but something caught V's eye about it, and he turned and took a look for the two seconds before the girl and the man with her went around a corner.

And this was not a couple. This was a man and a child of about nine, most likely his daughter (though he couldn't see a resemblance, their backs were to him), but something in the girl's walk caught his eye.

That, and the way she was holding her (assumingly) dad. She wasn't just holding his hand, she seemed to be attempting an act where she was literally super glued to him. Her body almost seemed to time the strides he made so that she would never lose her connection to him.

Clingy, a less observant person might have said, but V was no normal person. He could read people well even without his useful talents, and he knew this girl wasn't clingy. It was almost as if…she was…afraid…

And then the two turned the corner. V stood there for a few seconds and then quickly walked over. But he was too late: by the time he had gotten around it the two had disappeared into the crowds.

Puzzled, V turned and headed off in his own direction. Something was nagging at him, but exactly what wouldn't form. He figured he would duel a bit: maybe his brain would manage to pluck the thought from his subconscious if he didn't focus on it.

*****************

Most readers might have assumed that V had seen one of the Yu-Gi-Oh females and this was the beginning of a Gary Stu romance. Well, you were wrong (CRASH!) and if you pardon me I have to go fix the forth wall again.

In any case, I will note, one of those females who some may have suspected the Gary Stu romance (CRASH!), oh forget it, Mai's in the D-Arena. Now if you excuse me, I have some repair work to do.

*****************

Mai had a reason to be in the arena as well, except it had proven to be a non-factor: she had been stood up. She wasn't on a date, she had made an appointment to meet with someone regarding a modeling job. As much fun as dueling was, tournaments where you could earn something serious had become few and far between these days. She had racked up a pretty good record until she had entered Duelist Kingdom. They it all came tumbling down: Joey figured out her tricks and beat her, and then that blasted Panik, and then she threw a duel for Tea after Yugi beat Panik for her, and then she lost to Yugi in the finals, and just when she was getting back together in Battle City she wandered into a plot involving ancient Egyptian spirits and resentful tomb keepers and all sorts of nasty supernatural stuff that had not only cost her the duel but had some other unpleasant repercussions. Now she was trying to make a living, and she would walk on hot coals before she went back to being a blackjack dealer.

But, as mentioned, the guy had never showed. Feeling a bit depressed, and now having nothing to do for a few hours, Mai wandered around the D-Arena. She caught a showing of the previous' month's "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" on one of the large screens in a quieter section of the D-Arena, and it had cheered her up a bit (the comedians calling the show replied a BIT too much on sexual innuendo jokes, but besides that they were pretty clever). It had announced the next "MXXC" event would be held the next day, and Mai contemplated coming back and seeing it live as she walked on the higher levels of the arena that held the mass of dueling arenas. Occasionally, she stopped and watched one.

And eventually, she came to an arena that had a large crowd around it. Mai stopped and looked down. On one side was a young boy of about twelve with green hair, and on the other side was an older man with long black hair and a long coat. The two were engaged in a heated duel, with the crowd firmly on the side of the child.

Mai watched. She had come in at about the middle, and she watched as the older man mounted an offensive (which he got booed for) and then watched as the child caught the man via a trap card and started a counter-attack. The older man staved off the final blow, barely, and dug in his heels, and the two stalemated each other before the kid finally got a ritual together that allowed him to summon Zera the Mant and finally finish off the older man. The whole crowd applauded, and seemed on the verge of carrying the kid off on their shoulders. The older man just collected his cards and left, giving the kid a salute as he walked off. Well, at least he understood sportsmanship.

****************

V didn't much mind losing. He hadn't planned on using his special card (didn't want to attract too much attention), and while he had played well, the kid had played better. He was good, but he wasn't a Worthy.

Sipping from his drink, V walked around looking for another empty arena. None were forthcoming, and V hated waiting in lines, so he continued to walk. He finally found one at one end that had broken down and was being repaired. V sat down near it, and sure enough not ten minutes later the arena was fully fixed and fired up. V walked over and claimed one side, and then looked around for an opponent.

"Excuse me…"

V turned at the voice, and then his eyes widened, just a tad, in recognition. It was the man he had seen before: he recognized the clothes. Now, finally face to face, he noticed the man, who was in his mid-thirties and wasn't bad looking, looked tired. Not tired in "I need some sleep" way, but tired in the way that spoke of hardship. V wondered what that was.

"Yes?"

"My daughter would like to…uh, play with you."

"You mean duel?"

"Yeah, that's it." The man said. His tone showed V that he had no real idea how Duel Monsters was played, but not in a way that showed ignorance. Rather, one that showed he seemed to have no time or energy to learn.

"Ok, sure. Let's fire up the arena and…"

"Sir?"

"Yes?' V asked.

"My daughter is a bit…shy…so I was wondering if…" the man said, and then he just stopped. He looked defeated, though V hadn't said a word.

"…I'll see." V replied, and turned. He stepped on the platform that lifted him up to his section and found himself looking at the same girl he had seen from the back before. She was clearly the daughter of the tired man, who had stepped back and was watching the duel with the interest parents could muster for anything their children did. Yet it was still tainted by exhaustion. V wondered why the man seemed so tired, almost…broken.

As mentioned, the girl was clearly his daughter: she had his hair and eyes. But while he was tired, she seemed to be scared. V had no idea why, but it looked like the girl was just scared to be away from her dad. He wondered if he should call down and tell the man he could join her up on the platform if he wanted.

"Ok, let's duel." The girl suddenly said. Her voice was quiet, much like a mouse. V only heard her because he had good ears.

"You want to go first?" V asked.

"Ok." The girl said. She hesitatingly went through her drawn cards, as if she was worried the cards might suddenly come to life and bite her. V's brow furled. He had been right: the girl wasn't clingy. Something was wrong.

He pondered taking a deeper look, as only he could, and then decided to try something else first.

******************

Mai saw V as she walked by, and she stopped. Looked like the man had gone and found himself a weaker opponent, possibly to beat on. Mai frowned and stopped to watch. She would see how this man played, and if he tried to bully this girl because he had just lost to another child, she would go down there and give him a piece of her mind.

******************

"I play…Bone Mouse (400/300) in attack mode." The girl said. A skeleton mouse appeared.

V looked at his hand, and decided to try something to see just what the girl suffered from.

"Not the best card to put in attack mode. Here's why." V said. "I play Monster Egg, in attack mode." An egg with legs (600/900) appeared. "Send the mouse back to the graveyard."

The egg rammed into the mouse, destroying it and dropping the girl's life points to 3800. However, she acted as if V was about to strike her physically, cowering away from the podium. V felt rotten, but he pressed on.

"Um…ok…I play Wretched Ghost of the Attic, in attack mode." The girl said. What looked like a zombie Karibou appeared. V sighed. He hated to do this.

"Like I said, not the best idea young lady! The best offensive is a good defense, and just to drive that home, I play Hinotama Soul, in attack mode. Send the ghost back!"

The Hinotama Soul (600/500) appeared and killed the Ghost, dropping another 50 life points from the girl, leaving her with 3750. She cowered a bit, but it was also clear to V that she wasn't happy with these attacks.

"Your move child." V said.

The girl drew, and then her tiny face got some anger in it.

"I play a monster card face down and I also place another card face down." The girl said.

V appeared to ponder his options.

"Ok, I'll bite! Hinotama Soul, attack the face down monster!"

"I thought the best offense was a good DEFENSE?" the girl said. "I activate my trap card: Just Deserts! This inflicts 500 points of damage on you for every monster you have on the field!"

V flinched as he lost 1000 Life Points.

"Oh well." He muttered. He still had 3000.

"I end my turn." The girl said.

"Alright then." V said, as he drew. Ah, this would help.

"I play Polymerization, and I fuse my Monster Egg and Hinotama Soul into Charubin the Fire Knight!" V said. His two monsters vanished and were replaced by a knight with a fiery chain. (1100/800)

"I know fusion monsters have to wait a turn before attacking…so I'll reveal my face down monster: Goddess of Whim!" the girl said. She had gone from mouse to rabid rat as V had prodded at her, and V finally had an idea what her story was. A woman card appeared. (950/700)

"This card allows me to flip a coin when it appears. If I call it right, I get my attack points doubled!" the girl said as she produced a coin.

"And if you call it wrong?" V asked.

For a moment the fearful expression was back, but it quickly faded as the girl tossed the coin up. V watched it spiral through the air and come back down.

"Tails!" the girl said. When the Goddess of Whim card had been played, a small extension had come out of the computer in front of the girl, and it recorded her voice. She caught the coin and slapped it over onto her palm, and then put her hand under a small reading device so it could read the result. She lifted her hand.

"…YES!" The girl said. Apparently she had gotten tails. V looked distressed as the Goddess's attack points jumped to 1900. "Goddess, attack!"

The Goddess did, blowing away V's knight and dropping his life points to 2200.

"Ow." He said, and began looking through his deck.

*******************

Mai didn't have the best eyes, but she was in a good enough position that she could make out the rough outlines on the cards the man had in his hand. Specifically, what stood out were the dots, or "stars" that each card had to represent, and she noticed that the card near the end of V's hand had a lot of dots on it. She couldn't tell what the card was or exactly how many dots it had, but it had a lot. Surely enough that V could destroy anything the girl, who was clearly just someone who played a little for fun, threw at him.

And the way he looked at the girl, and then his fingers passed over the card as he drew another from his deck.

*******************

"I play Earthbound Spirit, in defense mode." V said, the Spirit (500/2000) appearing and protecting his remaining life points. What to do…

"I play Fireyarou in attack mode." The girl said, as the Fireyarou (1300/1000) appeared. That was all she did. V drew another card. If he put another monster down he would…

No. Not for this.

"I end this turn." V said, ignoring the Shadow Spell card he had just drawn.

"I play Fire Princess, in attack mode." The girl said. V was noticing a theme as the Fire Princess (1300/1500) appeared. For a moment V wondered…nah.

V drew again. My my, look what was here. Played in the right order, the cards he held could wipe the girl out before she knew what hit her.

But V had long realized the point of this game wasn't to win, it was to find out what was wrong, what had caught his eye. And now he knew.

And he was faced with a new problem, as he ended his turn while looking at the card he had just drawn, pretending to be cross. He wasn't, or at least not at the card. He was cross about his new problem: he had no idea how to help the girl.

The girl drew, and her eyes lit up.

"Yes! I play Defense Paralysis, which forces all of your monsters out of Defense mode." The girl said. V pretended to be horrified as his Earthbound Spirit went from being a mighty guard to a weak pawn.

"Goddess of Whim, attack!" the girl ordered. The Goddess was back down to her original 950, but that was all she needed as she destroyed the ES and reduced V's life points to 1750.

"And finally, I sacrifice Fireyarou and Fire Princess to bring out Flame Cerberus!" the girl said, holding up a card. The two fire monsters disappeared and were replaced with a flame-spewing three-headed dog monster. V had no defense, and was helpless as the girl attacked his life points directly and sent them down to 0.

"I won! I won!" the girl said, as V gathered up his cards. He saw the girl hugging her father as the platform lowered him down.

And it was the look in the man's eyes that hurt him most of all. For while he was happy, behind the happiness was a kind of resignation, like the man knew all too well how temporary this was. Almost as if he knew this moment was just that: a moment, and it would quickly pass, and then real life would come back and exert its crushing force on him.

But what made the man this way? What weight was on his shoulders, and how was it connected to how the girl had been terrified of him at first but quickly become vicious when pushed into a corner? The manner rather reminded V of either a wounded animal or someone attacking a scapegoat…

"Hey. Nice work."

V started at the sudden voice, nearly dropping his cards all over the place. He turned to look at the blonde woman who had spoken them.

"Uh thanks. I did lose though, you know."

"I know. But I think you could have won, won rather easily…it's just not often I meet someone who clearly has skill and yet some humility." Mai said. Up close, the long haired man turned out to be rather handsome, even with the long scar on his face that formed a rough V shape, barely covered by the sunglasses the man wore. But Mai didn't much care about that. Scars didn't show what a person was like inside, actions did. And Mai was fairly sure, and impressed, with V's actions.

"What? Oh, do you mean that other…" V said, as he turned back to the way he was facing. But the man and his daughter were gone.

V frowned inside. He had wanted to help. But it was clear that it might not be his task…

Ok then. If he and those two crossed his path again, he would give them a serious look and appraisal, and if he was meant to help them, he was certain he would see them again. Destiny was a funny thing…

"Hello!" the woman was saying, waving her hand in front of V's face. V looked back to her.

"Sorry, zoned for a moment."

"Gee, and you wonder why you lost!" Mai joked good naturally.

"That was a one time thing. I don't zone in a duel."

"Yes, maybe you just plain suck." Mai replied. She wondered why she was teasing this man: she barely knew him, and for all she knew he could get violent. Yet, at the same time, she had a feeling no harm would come to her.

V looked wryly at Mai.

"And if I suck, how did I battle that one very good kid to a near standstill?" V asked.

"I dunno. Luck?"

"Easy for you to say. I bet you couldn't have beaten him."

"Oh yeah?" Mai said, her competitive instincts flaring up. "Are you questioning my dueling abilities?"

"It depends. Do you HAVE any?"

Mai couldn't tell if it was an honest question or a minor diss, but in either case, she knew what she would do.

"Oh yes. The name's Mai. Mai Valentine." Mai said.

V stared.

"Never heard of you." He finally answered. Mai facevaulted.

"Well then sweetie, why don't we step on that platform, and when I'm done, you'll never forget me." Mai said.

"You wanna duel? Fine by me. But believe me, I may not have made the best decisions with that child, but with you, I will." V said.

"Bring it on, big boy. Let's see if you can actually play this game." Mai replied, drawing out her deck.

"Fine then we…" V said, turning around. And then he saw that his platform had been claimed by other duelists. "Ah crap."

"Hey, fate smiled on you. Now you have an excuse to back out." Mai teased. V turned back to her, his face in a wry smile.

"I think not. Come, Mrs. Valentine. I'll pay for a private arena. And then I'll show you that skill doesn't always need to be seen to be believed."

*********************

"Man, sure is quiet in here." Mai said as she rose up on her dueling platform. She and V were in a private arena now, and the calm that pervaded the heavily soundproofed room was in stark contrast to the constant racket outside.

"Indeed, I noticed that myself. How do you want to play?" V asked.

"Battle City. And also…care to make a little wager?" Mai asked.

"Wagers make the world go round." V replied quietly.

"What?"

"Nothing. Sure. What do you want to bet?"

"Ok. If I win, you buy me dinner." Mai said.

"Ah Mrs. Valentine, if you wanted a date you should have just asked…" V said.

"Who said anything about a date? Duels make me hungry. I win, you pay for my food. Hell, I may call a few friends and have them come in as well."

"I hope you do a lot of working out." V said.

"What's that mean?"

"Dueling for food? If you don't work out a lot you won't have that fine figure long."

"Why you! That's it! I AM calling my friends!" Mai said as she pulled out a cell phone. She dialed a number. "Hi Joey! Yeah, it's Mai. Joey, stop sputtering, I need your help. I've got a bet and you would definitely benefit me if I win, and it'll be a benefit to you as well. Sure, bring the gang. The more the merrier." Mai said, and hung up. She smiled slightly. Poor Joey. He had a major schoolboy crush on her and her call had sent him into a stuttering frenzy.

"Are you done?" V said as he lazily shuffled his deck.

"Much like you are. I take my filet mignon medium rare, by the way."

"My, already planning to fleece me at a fancy restaurant. You haven't won yet, Mrs. Valentine."

"Call me Mai. And just what is your name, anyway?"

"Call me V."

"All right then, V." Mai said. _Man that's a weird name._ "Let's duel! The quicker we begin, the quicker I can eat!"

"Wait a minute. You keep assuming you will win. Might I ask what I get if, god forbid, I win?" V said.

"I dunno. What do you want?" Mai asked. V smirked and took a sip from his drink.

"Oh, I'll think of something." V said, as he completed his final shuffle and looked across the field at Mai. "Alright then, enough betting. Let's duel."

To Be Continued


	10. Mai vs V I: Mai Kind Of Day

Chapter 10: Mai vs V: Mai Kind of Day

(Life Point Count: Mai 4000, V 4000)

"Ladies first." V said, sipping water from his cup. You know, the supposedly indestructible one?

"My my, I guess chivalry isn't dead." Mai said, looking at her hand. She pondered her strategy. On one hand, V did have skill. He had been matching that earlier kid move for move. On the other hand, she wasn't playing for a huge cash prize or to keep her memo…actually the less she thought about THAT, the better, but that didn't mean she shouldn't play at the top of her game.

Though it was nice to not have the usual stress.

"I lay a card face down, and I play Blue-Eyed Silver Zombie, in attack mode." Mai said, as the decomposing monster appeared (900/700). "And that'll be it."

"How true." V said. "I play Earthbound Spirit (500/2000) in attack mode. And then…I play the magic card Shield and Sword!"

The card appeared, and the attack and defense points of both monsters switched to 2000/500 and 700/900.

"Attack Spirit!"

"Bad move buddy." Mai said as the Earthbound Spirit rushed forward. "I activate my trap card, Mirror Wall!"

"Ah crap!" V cursed as the Mirror Wall stopped his attack and cut his attack points in half to 1000.

"It gets worse. That card you played only works for one turn, and since your turn is over, you go back to the original number…before my little effect takes place there as well." Mai said. V looked a bit worried as his Spirit's attack points fell to 250. "Now attack Zombie!"

The Blue-Eyed Silver Zombie did so, destroying the Spirit. V's life points went down to 3350.

"Nice move." V said.

"I'd say so." Mai replied, as she drew a card, having neglected to do so when she was attacking. She stared at it. _Odd. No Harpy Ladies yet. Oh well, no matter._

"I switch Blue-Eyed Silver Zombie into defense mode, and I play Amazon Fighter (1500/1300), in attack mode. That'll be it for me. Try not to hurt yourself now big boy." Mai said.

V frowned and drew. _Ah._

"I play two cards face down, and I summon the Skull Feline to the field, in attack mode." V said. A lion-like creature with a mane of sharp bone appeared. "That'll be it."

Mai drew. _My Harpy's Pet Dragon!_ She thought. _But I don't have any Harpys on the field yet…but with this card, it won't matter much…_Mai thought as she pulled out another card.

"I lay a card face down, and then I sacrifice my Blue-Eyed Silver Zombie and Amazon Fighter to call the lonely but still mighty Harpy's Pet Dragon!" Mai said. The brown, hairy dragon appeared (2000/2500), it's hologram roaring at V. "Now my lovely dragon, attack his Skull Feline."

"I don't think so…" V said. "Activate…"

"Stop right there sweetie. Activate face down card: Harpy's Feather Duster!" Mai called. "This will destroy any trap cards you might have thought would stop my dear dragon."

"Like I said, I DON'T THINK SO." V replied. "Activate other face down card: Fake Trap!"

"Ack! My Feather Duster!" Mai said, as the Fake Trap stopped her Feather Duster.

"And as I was saying, activate my original card: Wakobu!" V said. Three women in robes stopped Mai's dragon from attacking.

"That's it?" Mai cracked, trying to hide her relief it wasn't a nastier trap card.

"It made you waste your Feather Duster, didn't it?" V said, sipping his drink again. Mai grudgingly admitted he had a point. V drew again. "And that pain is about to increase."

_Uh oh._ Mai thought. Then she recalled she still had her Mirror Wall up. Maybe V wouldn't.

"First, I'll play the magic card Rush Recklessly! This increases my Skull Feline's attack points by 700 for one turn. But that's just the start. Next, I'll combo it with this card: Blessed Dice!" V said, as he placed two cards onto his platform.

"Blessed Dice?" Mai said. She'd never heard of that one. Joey had a pair of cards that were called Graceful and Skull Dice, but this was new.

"This magic card allows me to multiply the effect of any magic card. And I'm going to use it on my Rush Recklessly card." V explained. An angel hologram appeared and tossed a die. It bounced a few times and came up on 3.

"Three! This means my Rush Recklessly's effect is tripled, giving my Skull Feline 2100 extra attack points! And with that, I command it to destroy your Harpy's Pet Dragon!"

"Not before my Mirror Wall has its way, big boy." Mai said, waving a finger in a naughty-naughty expression. 

"As you wish! I play the final part of the puzzle: Dust Tornado!"

"Oh no!" Mai said as her trap card was destroyed.

"And now that that's gone, Skull Feline, attack!" V commanded. The Skull Feline, it's attack points increased to 3400, charged forward and rammed into the dragon, destroying it in a blast of electronic data. Mai's life points dropped to 2600.

"Still have any doubts Mai?" V said.

Mai didn't answer. Instead, she drew. _Ah. No V. I don't doubt your skills. But as you will soon see, you had better not doubt MINE either._

To Be Continued

  



	11. Mai vs V II: Mai Time

Chapter 11: Mai vs V: Mai Time

(Life Point Score: V 3350, Mai 2600)

"Ok V, let's move along. I play another card face down, and then I play Niwatori!" Mai said. The Niwatori (800/900) appeared. "Make your move."

_Odd that she would play such a weak monster. Could it be a trap? Or does she want me to think it's a trap?_ V thought. _Well, I'm ahead, no need to take risks for the moment._ Plus, V had used up all his cards in the last turn: his hand was empty. He drew. _This won't do anything but I'll need it later._

"I play the magic card Infinite Cards!" V said. Mai arched an eyebrow. _What would he be playing that for?_ V's turn ended, and she drew and frowned. Still no cards she could use. At least V wouldn't be attacking with her card down. Yet anyway.

V took his turn, drew again, and ended it. Mai did the same. Heh, V's Infinite Cards was actually helping her! She would have had to start discarding cards by now.

V drew again.

"Ah. I play Black Pendant, giving Skull Feline a 500 point attack boost!" V said, as his monster's points jumped to 1800. Mai shuddered at the memory of that card and what it had done. "Hey, you ok?"

"Yeah yeah. I'm fine." Mai said. The past couldn't hurt her. Hopefully.

"Ok then. Well then, attack Skull Feline!" V commanded, finally deciding to take the risk. And indeed, her trap card didn't trigger, and her Niwatori was destroyed, dropping her life points to 1600.

Mai had had enough. Time to get aggressive. And as she drew, she finally had the means for that.

"Ok V, time for you to really see what this lady can do. First, I'll summon Harpy Lady to the field!" Mai said, finally getting her hands on her favorite card. The Harpy Lady (1300/1400) appeared. "And I'll power it up with Malevolent Nuzzler!" she continued, her Harpy Lady's attack jumping to 2000. "Now attack his Skull Feline!"

The Harpy Lady did, destroying the cat creature and reducing V's life points to 3150. But no sooner did that happen then Mai's life points dropped to 1100, due to the effect of V's Black Pendant.

"That hurt you worse then it did me." V said.

"I'll repay the pain back ten times over." Mai shot back.

"Maybe not. By destroying my Skull Feline, you've activated its special ability. If I pay the amount of life points I lost in the attack that destroyed it, I can summon its bigger, nastier brother to the field. So I do! Come forth VILEON!" V yelled. His life points dropped to 2950, even as an even larger lion-like creature, with a purplish mane and black tentacles coming out of its shoulders appeared. (2100/1300). 

"And I'll combo that with this magic card: Chronosis Skip! This card allows me to warp time and "skip" back to something. Like, say, your field situation before you equipped that magic card. So, say goodbye to your Malevolent Nuzzler!"

Mai sweatdropped as her Harpy Lady's attack went back down to 1300.

"Now attack!" V ordered. The Harpy Lady went bye bye, and Mai's life points dropped to 300.

"Oh dear, I may be licked!" Mai said, feigning worry. She drew. "I'll play Dunames Dark Witch (1800/1050), in defense mode!"

"Attack Vileon!" V said, after he drew. The Vileon destroyed the Witch. Mai drew again. Not quite there yet. Guess she needed another scapegoat.

"Faith Bird (1500/1100), in defense mode!" Mai said.

V drew.

"I play Pot of Greed, and draw two new cards. And now that that's done, Vileon, you know the drill!" V said. The Faith Bird went into the Graveyard. Mai sighed and drew. Dammit, she was out of monster cards! But she needed a defense! Annoyed, she knew what she had to do.

"I use Monster Reborn, to bring back my Faith Bird, in defense mode!" Mai said. The Faith Bird returned, not looking too happy. And it had a good reason, as V drew and destroyed it again.

Mai drew again. _Finally!_

"Ok V, let me show you how it's done! First, I play Cracked Headstone! This magic card allows me to return one card from the graveyard to my hand. And I don't have to tell you what it is." Mai said, taking the card she wanted back. "Next, I play Harpy Lady, again, in defense mode!" Mai said. The second Harpy Lady appeared. "And then I'll lay a card face down and end my turn."

V drew. _Should I attack? Eh, sure, I'll bite._

"Ok then. Vileon, attack!"

"Oh no you don't!" Mai said. "Reveal face down card: Graverobber!"

"Ah crap." V said. What he had bitten was his own foot after he stuck it into his mouth.

"You know what this does? It lets me take a magic card from your graveyard. I think I'll take your delightful Blessed Dice card. And use it on my Rose Whip magic card!" Mai said. Her Harpy Lady gained a whip, even as the angel tossed the dice. It came up with a four.

"That's 1200 extra attack points! Which gives me 2500, and that's all I need!" Mai said, as her Harpy Lady attacked and destroyed the Vileon, dropping V's Life Points to 2550.

"Nice. But Vileon also has a special ability: if I discard a card, I can gain back all the life points I lost!" V said, getting rid of a card as his life points returned to 2950. Mai looked annoyed, as the Rose Whip vanished from her Harpy's hand, only good for one turn.

"Nice move. Ok, I'll lay a monster card face down and end my turn." Mai said. V drew. He didn't have anything in his hand.

"I'll lay a card face down, and then I'll play Ryu-Kinshin (1000/500), in defense mode…"

"HAH! Finally! Activate face down card, Shadow of Eyes!" Mai said, finally able to activate the trap card she had laid several turns back. "This forces your monster into attack mode! And that is a bad thing, if you didn't know! Attack Harpy Lady!" Mai ordered. The Harpy Lady destroyed Ryu-Kinshin, and V's life points went down to 2650.

"Hmmm, nice work. We seem pretty evenly matched." V said, and drew. His brow creased. 

"Ok then…I lay a card face down, and then I play Banisher of the Light (100/2000) in defense mo…AH CRAP I CAN'T USE DEFENSE MODE!"

"You forget already? Idiot!" Mai said, although the insult was in a light, jokey tone. "Well, if that's the way you're going to play, I equip Harpy Lady with Cyber Shield! Now Harpy Lady, attack!" Mai said, as her Harpy Lady's power went up to 1800, and unlike Rose Whip, this was permanent, as the bird woman rushed to attack.

Only to be stopped by three women in robes.

"A Wakobu again?" Mai said, annoyed.

"Yep. Best offense is a good defense and all that." V said. He drew again. Ah, this would help.

"Ok, first I play Chronosis Reflection!" V said. "This magic card lets me look back through time and mimic any move you've made in the past three turns! And I choose to mimic your Graverobber move, and from your graveyard, I think I'll take your Feather Duster! And use it!"

Mai's Shadow of Eyes was destroyed.

"Now, I will switch Banisher of the Light into defense mode. And then I'll play Protection Circle!" V said, as a roulette wheel appeared. "This magic card allows me to add a random amount of defense points to my monster…well hopefully anyway…" V said. The wheel had eight sections, with the numbers 400, 800, 1600, and 3200. Four added that amount, four took that amount away. "Let's go!"

The wheel began to spin. Mai and V watched it.

"Stop!"

The wheel began to slow down. Mai's eyes widened as it slowly came to a stop, over +3200 points.

"STOP! STOP! STOP!" V yelled.

And kept going, onto –1600 defense points. 

"AH! GO GO GO!" V yelled. Mai smirked.

V lucked out: the wheel went on past the –1600 and finally stopped at +800.

"Oh well, could have been worse." V said, as his Banisher's defense points went up to 2800. "That'll be it."

Mai drew. Nothing she could use to get around that defense. She ended her turn. V drew, put a card down next to his Banisher, and ended his turn. Mai drew. Nothing. V drew, nothing. He sucked on the straw in his drink, wondering what to do.

Mai drew, nothing. She reflected at the relaxed pace. There was something to be said about duels that weren't in competitions and were witnessed by no one.

Once more for each, nothing. V's Infinite Cards was starting to make Mai's hand cramp from the amount of cards she was holding.

V drew again, frowning.

"Well Mai, it appears we are at a standstill. You can't get around my defense, and I have nothing with to mount an offense. Stalemate." V said. "Want to call off the bet and say it's a draw?"

"Get real! The length of this is just making me hungry! This duel is going to be mine yet!" Mai said, and drew. She looked at the card, and a plan formed in her brain.

Finally. It was her time now. The next turn, V would see what she could REALLY do.

To Be Continued


	12. Mai vs V III: Mai Victory?

Chapter 12: Mai vs V: Mai Victory?

(Life Point Count: Mai 300, V 2650)

"All right V, you've talked a lot of trash, and you backed a fair amount up. But it's over now. Time to show you why I came in third in Duelist Kingdom!" Mai said.

"Third? Who came in first?" V asked. Mai nearly facevaulted.

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER! Let's get this over with so I can eat!" Mai said. "Ok, first I play the magic card Elegant Egotist! Say hello to the pretty, marvelous, and powerful Harpy Lady Sisters!" Mai announced, as her Harpy Lady morphed into the trio of siblings. "But unfortunately, they're only here long enough to say goodbye, as I sacrifice two of them to call the card I brought back to my hand out again: Harpy's Pet Dragon!"

The two Harpy Ladies waved as they vanished, and then Harpy's Pet Dragon was back, roaring.

"For every Harpy on the field, Harpy's Pet Dragon gains 300 attack points! But it gets better V! Now I reveal my face down magic card: Magician of Faith!" Mai said, as the Magician of Faith appeared. "This lets me re-use a magic card, and the card I choose is ELEGANT EGOTIST! So glad to have you back!" Mai said, as her Harpy Lady again became the Harpy Lady Sisters. "And since one Harpy became three, so does the increase!"

V looked a bit alarmed, as he suddenly found himself facing the Harpy Lady Sisters (2450/2100), and worse, the back and now supercharged Harpy's Pet Dragon (2900/3400).

"And so it ends. First, my Dragon, attack his Banisher of the Light!"

The Dragon did so, smashing through V's defense.

"And now my Harpies, attack his life points directly!"

V recoiled, expecting the far too realistic holograms to smack him with something vicious, but instead the Harpy Ladies flew over to him.

And then stopped, right in front of him, as if frozen. V blinked, then leaned over.

"Hey I think the machine might have…"

And then the lead Harpy Lady slapped him across the face, nearly knocking him down as his life points plummeted down to 200. He knocked his drinking cup over with him, spilling the rest of the water. At least he didn't spill it on himself.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! Hey, you ok?" Mai said, amused. V pulled himself up.

"Very…cute…" V said. "Amusing."

"I'd say so! Ok V, take your last turn and get ready to open your wallet!" Mai said. V grimaced and leaned down to pick up his cup, putting it next to him.

"Oh, I didn't break that, did I?" Mai asked, actually concerned.

"Nah, it's supposedly nigh-indestructible. Don't know about that, but it is pretty tough." V replied.

"Ok then! Draw so I can eat!"

V shook his head, picked up his deck again, and drew.

He stared at the card.

Then he began to chuckle.

"They say great minds think alike, and that comes to me now. You're right Mai, this is the last turn. But not for me."

"You're bluffing." Mai said.

"Am I? Allow me to show you you're not the only one who can chain cards. In fact, let me show you how it's REALLY done." V said. He splayed his cards out in his hand.

"First, I activate the magic card I laid down next to my Banisher: Mourn of the Fallen! This allows me to draw four new cards! Next, I lay a monster card face down! Next, I play Monster Reborn! And I'll combo it with my face down card, which I will reveal now, Magician of Faith! Like I said, great minds think alike!"

Mai arched an eyebrow, puzzled at what V was doing.

"Using the Magician, I bring back my Blessed Dice magic card! And I combine it with my Monster Reborn card!"

The angel tossed out the dice, and again it came up a three.

"Perfect! I can bring back three monsters! And I choose the Skull Feline, the Vileon, and your Faith Bird!" V said, as the monsters re-appeared on his side. "But as you said, they're just here to say goodbye, as I'm sacrificing them to bring out THIS!"

V held the card over his head.

And Mai's eyes nearly bugged out of hers. It was true. She thought she might have been seeing things when she had looked down on V's earlier duel, but it hadn't been a trick of her eyes. He really had it.

"No! How did you get that card!?!??!?"

"I'll tell you later. On an empty stomach." V said.

Anyone standing outside the door of the private arena, despite the heavy soundproofing, would have heard the racket of what followed.

******************

"So…you're certain we're going to get to eat?" Tristan asked.

"That's what Mai said!" Joey said. When Mai had called him and told him she had a line on some food, he hasn't wasted any time. Not just because he was a guy and almost constantly hungry, but because if Mai called him up for the sake of food, it might mean…nah. Well, maybe. Could be.

"Well, in any case, at least I got this indestructible cup!" Tristan said, holding up his new purchase. Not knowing where to go, Joey and the friends he had invited (Tristan and Tea, and his sister Serenity was along for the ride as well. Joey had called Yugi, but his grandfather told him he was still resting from his head injury and it was best if he didn't go out. Oh well.) had checked out the restaurants. Not finding Mai there (and that puzzled him. She SAID there was food), Joey and the gang were now wandering around the D-Arena looking for her. But not before Tristan had been suckered into buying that cup by a slick sales rep.

"Tristan, that thing isn't indestructible. You got ripped off." Tea said.

"Yes it is! Look!" Tristan said, squeezing the cup.

"Oh yeah Tristan, your grip is the greatest determining factor in measuring strength in today's modern world." Joey said.

"Yeah…HEY!"

"Joey, are you SURE you didn't mishear?" Serenity asked her brother.

"No! I heard her! She has to be here somewhere! If we don't get to eat, I'll eat that so called indestroyable cup of Tristan's!"

"Indestructible Joey."

"WHATEVER!"

******************

The door opened, and Mai stumbled out.

She didn't look very good, for two reasons. One was the final attack that had defeated her went a little further beyond a hologram. It had always been that way with those cards. The second reason was the fact that V had USED that card. After all had happened, to see that show up out of nowhere…she was stunned beyond belief.

She was also a little sooty, much like Weevil and Rex, and as mentioned, shocked as hell. So we really must forgive her for tripping and falling down.

A few seconds later, V ran out of the arena after her.

"Mai! Are you ok?"

"Define it…" Mai muttered.

"Mai, I'm sorry. I didn't expect…it shouldn't have…" V said, trying to help Mai up.

"Forget what it did! How the hell do you have it? Something like THAT? HOW? HOW?" Mai said, getting freaked all over again.

And at that EXACT moment, Joey Wheeler came around the corner and onto this little scene.

Let's put this in perspective. We know that V is trying to help Mai get up, and she's freaked over the final card that he drew.

Now let's look at this from Joey's angle, with the information he possesses, and factor in his feelings for one of the participants. We really can't blame him for seeing the situation as Mai on the ground and looking freaked while some stranger bends over her in a manner that could very well be viewed as threatening.

And considering that is what Joey saw, we really cannot fault him his reaction.

"HEY! HEY YOU! GET AWAY FROM HER YOU FUCKING CREEP!" Joey roared, charging headlong at the two.

V heard someone yelling behind him, and he turned around just in time to see Joey swinging at him.

V dodged aside, the fist missing him and nearly hitting the wall. That didn't stop him, as he snapped off another blow that V dodged by jerking his head back.

"YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!" Joey yelled.

"Joey! Stop!" Mai shouted, trying to get up and get between V and Joey at the same time.

"Kid, stop it! Whoa!" V said as Joey snapped off another hook, again dodged by V. Mai managed to get a hold of Joey and was actually DRAGGED by him for a few steps before he registered it.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Came a new voice, as Tristan caught up, followed closely by Tea and Serenity.

"Joey stop it! Nothing's happening! He was trying to HELP me, you idiot!" Mai yelled in Joey's face.

"No way! You don't have to lie Mai! I saw what I saw! I can put two and two together!" Joey snapped, and again took a swing at V.

Who grabbed his arm, twisted, and flipped Joey to the ground with a thud and a yelp.

"And get five." V said. "Kid, I'm not trying to steal or hurt your girlfriend. Calm down before you regret it."

Joey growled. Mai suddenly looked embarrassed.

"What's going on guys?" Serenity asked.

"This guy here, his name's V, we were dueling. After we finished I slipped and fell down, and he was trying to help me up. And then your hotheaded brother saw this and decided he was attacking me." Mai said. Joey was getting up, looking both angry and sheepish as he rubbed his arm.

"Well, it certainly looked bad to me." Joey said. He took a closer look at V. "Hey, it's you!"

"You know this guy Joey?" Tristan asked.

"I saw him in Yugi's shop a few days ago. Geez, no wonder you could dodge me! I thought I was slowing down!" Joey said, trying to explain away his embarrassment.

"Right. Don't jump to conclusions." V said, reaching over and picking up his cup, which he had put aside when he had come out of the arena to help Mai.

"Well, anyway, no harm done! Mai, you said something about food?" Joey said.

"Yeah…sorry Joey. That was the bet. If I won this guy would buy us dinner. But…I lost." Mai said.

"You LOST? No way!" Joey said, looking at V. "How did this punk Wanna-D beat you?"

"This 'punk Wanna-D' is standing three feet from you and still has workable hearing, kid." V said. Joey ignored him.

"Well…uh…it's kind of a blur…" Mai said, not really wanting to tell them the truth. She wasn't sure she believed it herself.

"Which reminds me. I won Mai. We never specified what would happen if I won the duel." V said. Mai looked embarrassed.

"Yeah…right…" Mai said. "What do you, uh, think we should do…?"

"I don't know…" V said, stroking his chin in an exaggerated motion. "You kept talking about how hungry you are, and it does get lonely eating alone…maybe…"

V was joking to bug Mai, and he would have said so, except he never got the chance to, as Joey suddenly grew a fiery red colour again.

"You punk! You think you can force Mai into a date? You think you deserve that, huh? Huh?" Joey said, getting into V's face. V seemed unperturbed. In fact, he seemed to be studying Joey.

"Joey, don't bother him. He did win, maybe…"

"MAYBE NOTHING! Think you're hot stuff, huh? Because you got lucky and beat Mai! Well buddy, I say you're nothing but a poser Wanna-D, and I'll be glad to prove it!"

"If you say so." V said. He wasn't angered by Joey's insults: rather he was amused at all the leaps of logic Joey was making due to the clear indication he liked Mai. V found it charming.

"Yeah I say so! You and me, right now! I got the bang, you bring the boom!" Joey said, holding up his deck.

"Yes well…what?" V replied, having had no idea what Joey had said in his last sentence.

"Let's duel! You win, I'LL buy YOU dinner for your date! But I win, and you buy US dinner, as you would have had you not gotten so lucky and beat Mai!"

"You really want to?"

"Hell yeah!"

"What's your name kid?"

"Joey Wheeler, Duelist Extraordinaire!"

"That's a long name."

"Shaddup wise guy, let's go!"

"Hey, I have a question."

"What?"

"You were born here? Raised here?"

"Yeah."

"Then why do you have a Brooklyn accent?"

Joey went into a stream of curses as Tristan had to hold him back from jumping V again, more for Joey's sake then V's.

"Look kid, I just…"V said, and then his ear caught it. Under the loud racket of the D-Arena, there was the sound of yelling. Angry yelling.

V turned his head from Joey, who was being chastised by Mai again for being rude, to trace the source.

He found it quickly.

It was the girl and her father again, the one V had dueled and lost to on purpose. They were being screamed at by a woman, who seemed to be on the verge of trying to pull the girl away from her father. The girl clearly wanted to stay, and the man had a look on his face of some attempted explanation and some fear and some resignation. He was trying to explain something to the woman, but she was clearly having none of it.

V focused, and all the other sound dropped away.

"My watch stopped…I thought it was…"

"FUCK YOU HAROLD! IT'S PAST FIVE! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE HER BACK! THIS IS ALL I NEED, AND I DAMN SURE WILL!"

"Karen…"

"SHUT UP! Come on Stacey, we're leaving!" the woman called Karen screamed, grabbing at the girl. The girl called Stacey cried, trying to hold onto her father, but the woman peeled her off and dragged her away.

"YOU'LL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN YOU FUCKING BASTARD! NEVER!" the woman screamed. Her hate was so thick and vile V could feel it crashing into him in waves.

And finally V understood the whole situation. The father seemed tired and defeated because he wanted to spent time with his little girl, who he genuinely seemed to care about, time that was so short due to…what he had seen. And a girl, who clearly loved her father, being dragged away by a woman, a mother who…

No. V was watching deeply now, reading her as no man or woman could. This wasn't a mother. That construct had never really been there in the first place. This woman didn't care a lick about the girl she was dragging away. All she wanted to do was hurt the man. Cause him pain for reasons totally irrational except to her.

Cause her daughter pain because she really didn't care.

And the rage awoke in V, smoldering embers erupting into full flame, as V looked at the stupidity and the pettiness and the injustice of it all, saw the woman's face, how her features had been scoured and warped by her hatred, saw the way the girl reached back at the father she so desperately wanted to stay with, saw the father standing there helplessly, unable to do anything via orders of law or something, so tired and so close to breaking down and yet caring…

"Hey buddy, you in there?"

The cup exploded in V's clenched hands, disintegrating into a spray of plastic shards. Joey yelped and jumped back at it, but V only noticed enough to open his hand and let the shards fall free.

Then he turned back to Joey.

"Change of plans. We'll meet tomorrow and duel then, same terms. But not now. I have to go." V said, and he walked off.

"Hey! Come on! Hey, what are you doing?" Joey said.

V looked over his shoulder, and the flash of rage Joey saw for a moment sent ice water running through his veins.

"I have some business to take care of."

And then he was gone.

"Whoa…man, something's not right there…" Joey said.

"Man, that guy…I saw him looking…he looked like he wanted to burn a hole through the wall with his eyes…it was creepy as hell…" Tea said.

"Yeah…weird man…" Tristan said.

"I know…I saw some of it too…but any of you feel…none of us have nothing to worry about?" Mai said.

For a moment, silence.

"Ahhhhhhh can you believe this nonsense we're babbling about? Come on guys, let's go get some burgers so we can put the great meal I'm gonna have that guy buy for us tomorrow in perspective! Mai, you can come too!"

"Thanks Joey, but I have to be getting home. But I'll come back tomorrow to watch you duel." Mai said, and before Joey could protest she had turned and left.

"Ah crud! We get dragged all the way here, there's no fancy food, the guy runs off like a coward, and Tristan, I told you, THIS CUP IS NOT UNBREAKABLE!" Joey said, grabbing it away from Tristan. "You saw what freak boy did to it! It must break with a little…pressure…" Joey said, as he squeezed the cup as hard as he could.

And found it barely moved. Arching an eyebrow, Joey put more pressure on it. Same result. Growling, he began putting all the weight he could on the cup, banging it against the wall, throwing it down on the floor and stomping on it, and then even jumping on it with both feet, which made the cup slide out from under him and caused him to fall on his rear, which finally made Tristan and Serenity break out in laughter.

"What gives!?!"

"Truth in advertising!" Tristan laughed.

"But I saw him break it!"

"He must have had a defective model."

Tea was the only one not laughing, as a thought had occurred to her.

_I hope he had a defective model Joey. Because if he managed to do that to an actual one…how strong is he? Strong enough to…crush a human skull…in his bare hands?_

**************************

The woman, Karen, dragged her daughter to her car and practically threw her in the back seat, screaming at her daughter's cries. Some people saw it, but they ignored it in the way people do. The Kitty Gervoise Syndome. They didn't want to get involved. They didn't want the trouble.

But as this Karen starts up the car and drives off to a place that is not a home, indeed is far worse then any of you even realize, one person does care, a dark figure in the shadows, watching the car drive off.

And maybe the light is wrong, but for a moment we could almost swear this person has…claws.

But we hear his voice clear enough.

"THIS WILL NOT **_STAND."_**

And then V was gone. Dueling, for the moment, could wait.

He had to deal with an Unworthy.

To Be Continued.


	13. Do Not Fall In Life

Chapter 13: Do Not Fall In Life

_Do not fall in life._

_Don't pay attention to the people who claim different. Some lie, and some just don't know any better. They all say they'll be there for you. Some say they'll be there for everyone._

_But it's all wrong. All of it._

_Look into people's eyes. Some people fail to realize it's there. With others, it's much closer to the surface._

_It's in the eyes of the hotel clerk who declines the credit card you forgot you maxed out._

_In the eyes of the banker who forecloses on your house because taxes and cheap export labor have made it impossible for you to keep up the payments._

_It's in the surgeon who tells you your wife didn't make it._

_It's in the eyes of the children who taunt you on the schoolyard and in the eyes of the_ _adults who pat you on the head and tell you to ignore it and it'll all be better._

_The discomfort and disgust your misery awakens in them. How their eyes dart about, always, even if just a bit, to look somewhere, anywhere, other then you._

_They claim otherwise._

_Perhaps those children we saw early would claim different. They seemed close. Friends to the end._

_But are they the shining example of the best of us that so many claim…or merely an anomaly?_

_Think of this. What if a newspaper slandered one of them? What if the newspaper had credible sounding, abet totally wrong facts? What if everyone believed it except the friends of the one? What if the public decided that anyone who was a friend of that one had to be just as bad, and decided, each in their own way, to punish them for it? How long would the friends stand it? How long before their eyes would show the same thing that the public did?_

_Do not fall in life._

_The contradictory nature of this species will doom you. How badly we need, even want, to be with others, yet how so many of us take the chance to destroy different others, and sometimes not even that, when given the chance._

_I read something once. Take a perfect, unspoiled planet with no "intelligent" life._

_Then put a human on it. That will be the perfect human being._

_Put two, and they'll fall in love._

_Put three, and they'll reform this marvelous thing we call society._

_Put four and they'll form a pyramid._

_Put five, and they'll make one an outcast._

_Put six, and they'll reinvent prejudice._

_Put seven, and they'll reinvent warfare._

_Yeah. That sounds right to me._

_Do not fall in life._

_No one's going to catch you._

_No one cares about you when you're damned._

********************

Her name was Karen Kall, once Karen Seth, maiden name Karen Funk. She should not have been a mother.

Really. Sometimes one thinks society would be much better off if there was rigorous screening before someone was allowed to have a child (of course, this brings up the problem of who should DO the screening and all that…but I digress. Let's move on). Mothers are supposed to love and care for their children, no matter what. It's built into their genes. But sometimes there are anomalies.

Karen was a doubly bad choice. She was easily influenced by others, and she had a large amount of anger issues. Also, there must have been a streak of meanness in her. But when her first marriage to Harold had broken up, she had at least cared a bit about her daughter Stacey, even though her irrational hatred for her husband was already in place (and it WAS irrational. Harold may not have been the most exciting man, but he was steady and kind, which is the cornerstone for most marriages. A tip, if I may. Don't marry someone who you don't like as a friend. Because that's what marriages eventually become: lifelong friendships. Marry just for the passion and heat and love and once that's cooled down you're in trouble. And even if you listen to me, people change, so no promises.) To Karen, Harold was to blame for all her problems, and she took great advantage of the feminist bias in the system to hurt him. Harold, to his credit, never responded in kind, but maybe that was because he was so busy working to pay his legal bills and alimony that he just didn't have the energy to. He didn't like his ex very much, but mostly because of what she was doing. She, on the other hand, hated him with a passion. Don't try and apply logic to it. That doesn't work in situations like this.

And then Karen had met Maxwell…

As bad as Karen was, Maxwell was worse. Not only did he feed on Karen's hatred for her ex, which grew to the point where it had literally scarred her face, but he had poisoned Karen's little love for her daughter, turning it into, at best, apathy, and at worst…enjoyment for what Maxwell did. And as for Maxwell, he was cruel to the bone. 

As we will see, as Karen exits from the elevator, dragging her daughter in tow. She is greatly pleased: a quirk of fate will give her the legal ammunition she will need to completely cut off Harold's visitation rights. She knows how much he enjoys his time with Stacey, and this will drive a dagger into his heart. And he deserved it, the fucker. At least in her opinion.

And so she drags Stacey into the apartment she has in this building. Not the best location, but if the building was as rotten as the hearts of these two adults, one tap would make it all fall down.

She can't wait to tell Maxwell. But as she finds, he is waiting for them. And from the look on his face, he's stewing about something. In the sick thing that used to be her heart, Karen grins. This will be interesting.

Maxwell Kall is an average sized man with a closely cut dark blonde haircut and large glasses. But to Stacey Kall, he is a giant, and a terrible one at that, as she looks at him and fear blooms in her heart.

"Stacey…" Maxwell begins, calm at first. It's a front, and Stacey knows it. Maxwell is holding a piece of paper in one hand.

His other hand is suddenly lashing out, striking her across the face, causing her to fall with a scream.

**************

_Do not fall in life._

_For most, the descent is everything they ever wanted to avoid, but to some…in the fall they find everything that they were ever missing in life. And anything else that gets affected be damned, they love it, plunging down and down, grabbing onto others, clawing and pulling them down, loving their pain as it mixes with their descent, thrilled by the plummet._

_Do not fall in life._

_You might find out you like it._

************

V was in danger of falling himself.

He'd followed the car to this apartment building, and when he'd arrived he'd planned to follow Stacey and that woman who dared call herself her mother, watch them do whatever they had to do to get in, deduce what apartment they lived in, and then come in through the window.

But that plan had quickly turned sour as he saw the condition of the building. Most of the balconies on this building were old, rickety, and rotten. If V found the apartment and landed on the balcony, chances were it would collapse under his feet, and he would be rudely re-introduced to the laws of gravity. And the only windows going into the apartments were the large sliding door kind that opened onto the decrepit balconies, though V figured most of those were permanently locked.

So here he was, hanging off the building as Stacey and her "mom" approached the entrance. He had to move fast. But at the same time, he didn't want to go into the building through the front if he could avoid it…

Except he realized he had no choice. Without a thought, V let go, falling towards the ground. One would think that he had committed suicide, except that with several well-timed grabs on the side of the building, V lands unharmed. Though he still hits the ground with considerable impact. Though by now, you've probably deduced that V isn't exactly human.

He had one more thing to do before he followed. But he'd already scouted it, as he turned towards the wall. On it was a metal covered wire that linked all the phone lines of the building to the main grid.

One violent grab and yank turned off all the telephones in the building.

As V turned to follow, however, it might aggravate him to learn that he shouldn't have worried about the weak balconies. The apartment he needed to go into, its door was open. Even with the dangerously rotten balcony, he could have just swung in…

*******************

Even as the pain exploded through her face, Stacey wondered why her stepfather was mad. She'd seen what he was holding: her report card. But why was he angry? She'd got straight A's. Mainly because if she didn't…he would do what he had just done.

"WHAT'S THIS?" Maxwell roared, pointing at the top of the page. "Stacey S! STACEY S? YOUR NAME IS KALL! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU!"

"I'm sorry…" Stacey whimpered.

"NO YOU'RE NOT! YOU DID THIS ON PURPOSE, YOU DIRTY DISRESPECTFUL GIRL!" Maxwell roared, kicking Stacey in the ribs. Stacey's breath exploded from her lungs even as the pain blasted through her.

Karen just watched, a tiny glow in her eyes. Yes, she has come this far. You think humans can't become things like these? You're wrong. Never think humans have hit rock bottom. They'll pull out a shovel.

"YOU KEEP INSULTING ME, AND YOU HAVE TO BE PUNISHED!" Maxwell snarled as he grabbed his stepdaughter.

And finally, the fear becomes more then the pain. Because Stacey knows what he means by punishment.

The poker.

And the fear of that propels her to break her father's grip and run.

"COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BITCH!" Maxwell screams, chasing after Stacey. Stacey, luckily, manages to get to the bathroom and lock the door. Maxwell pounds on it in a frenzy.

"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE REALLY GOING TO GET IT NOW!" Maxwell bellows, smashing at the wood. It's not thick enough to hold Maxwell off for long, even as Stacey cowers behind the toilet and wishes her dad were there. She had never told him about how Maxwell beat her and how her mother allowed it. She didn't want to cause him any more worry…

The lock begins to break.

And at this point, the elevator door opens. And unlike everyone else on this floor, who has learned to block out the noise and not pay attention to it (hey, ain't THEIR problem), V listens. He automatically knows where he must go: the door at the end of the hall.

The bathroom door splinters open.

Stacey screams as Maxwell, sounding far more animal then man, charges in. Despite having nowhere to go, Stacey screams again and tries to run. Maxwell grabs her by her hair and drags her out, rearing back a punch to stop her screaming.

And then the doorbell rings.

The punch turns into a hand clasped over Stacey's mouth, silencing her.

"See who it is and get rid of them! You, make any noise and I'll rip your tongue out, got it?" Maxwell growls, pulling his stepdaughter into the bedroom.

Annoyed, Karen walks to the door to see who it is, peering through the peephole.

All she sees is a figure rapidly filling the peephole as V, having backed up down the hallway after ringing the bell, charges headlong at the door and leaps up.

The door completely breaks off its hinges as V kicks it, falling forward and trapping Karen under it as V rides it down with a thud and a muffled scream.

"Excuse me." V says as he steps off, walking into the room. Maxwell, having heard the noise, throws his stepdaughter on the bed and heads out.

"What THE FUCK…!"

V's fist slammed into his face, making a satisfying cracking noise while shattering his glasses. Maxwell stumbles back, and V rams a fist into his gut, doubling him over before he kicks him in the side of the head, sending him stumbling down the hallway.

"Hello." V said as Maxwell looked up, murder in his eyes. But it could never match the bottomless depths of cold fury reflected back at him in V's gaze.

"YOU FUCKER…!" Maxwell screams, punching.

V grabbed Maxwell's arm, twisted it down, and then slashes his leg out, slamming his foot across Maxwell's face and then back across in a one-two blow, throwing Maxwell back again.

"Not so easy when your victim can actually fight back, eh, you fuck?" V says. "Like to beat up little girls? Like the idea of doing more, you sick fuck? No. No. NO." V hissed.

And then, screaming, Karen leapt on V's back, trying to claw at his eyes. V stumbles around a bit at this sudden, and admittingly unexpected attack, but he recovers quickly, as he throws his hands behind him, seizing Karen, and then pulled her over his shoulders, slamming her into the floor as hard as he could. That floor-shaking blow was enough to convince some of the residents of the building to finally call the police. Unfortunately, they soon discovered their phones were out. And surprisingly, when they tried to use their cell phones, those didn't work either.

Maxwell was back up, and he regretted it as V took a step over and slammed his fist into his gut again. He then grabbed Maxwell's head and drove it into his knee for another satisfying crack.

Stacey, by now, had come out to see what the heck was going on. To say she was surprised when she saw her stepfather go flying past the hallway she was in was an understatement. She ran out, expecting to see her real father.

It wasn't.

"You?" she said, looking at the man who she had dueled earlier. V turned to look. He was about to say something when…

"YOU LITTLE BITCH!" Maxwell roared, lunging for Stacey, blaming her for what had happened, like sadistic little men did when their bullying was punished. Stacy shrieked and backed up, and then V was there, stepping between them. Stacey backed up some more…

And then, with a burst of adrenaline and rage, Maxwell managed to shove V back. V stumbled back and bumped into Stacey, which just accelerated her backwards tread, to the point where she couldn't stop herself, even as V fell down.

Bellowing, Maxwell leapt on V.

And Stacey stumbled through the opening balcony door, hitting the rotten railing with a cracking noise that sounded like thunder to V's ears. The balcony jerked down a few inches, throwing Stacey off balance.

"YOU FUCK-" Maxwell screamed.

The hook from V shattered both Maxwell's cheek and orbital bone and threw him across the entire room, where he bounced off the wall and hit the floor, down. V "kipped up", instinctively looking at his foe.

The scream sent ice through his veins, as the balcony edge Stacey was leaning on to try and regain her balance broke off, sending Stacey plummeting into the open air.

**********

_Do not fall in life._

_No one's going to catch you._

_No one's going to care…_

***********

It was one of those moments where everything slows down, as V saw Stacey's body slowly dip forward into open air…

And he was moving, willing the distance between her and him to close, even as she started to fall, even as V threw himself out and slid out onto the balcony, even as she disappeared from V's view, even as V's arm slipped off the broken edge and thrust down, hoping, praying…

…and snagging her ankle.

Stacey stopped with a jerk. Unfortunately, that made the balcony sag another inch. V grit his teeth at the sudden motion. To make it worse, his grip wasn't that great to begin with, and he felt Stacey began to slip.

"AHHHHHHH HELP ME…" Stacey wailed.

"Hold on! Don't move!"

"Don't let GOOOOO!"

"I won't!" V snarled. And he wouldn't. He wouldn't let go even if the balcony broke, and even if it did he'd fall with her and hold her above him, hoping he could act as some kind of a cushion, but he would not, would NOT let this poor girl die…

V's hand slipped a bit more.

Screw it, he had to throw caution to the wind. V tried to press himself up, knowing the pressure might make the balcony break even faster then it was, but he had to…

And then the screaming demon was there, her eyes as wild as any devil's, as Karen appeared over V, screaming and raising a fireplace poker above her head.

She brought it down on V's side. V hissed in pain and tried to yell at her that he was trying to keep her damn DAUGHTER from falling, but one look and he knew it would do nothing. Maxwell's poison and her own flaws and petty hatreds ran too deep for that. She was completely out of control and she didn't give two shits if her daughter fell to her death, she just wanted to hurt V, kill V, as she reared up and whacked him again, the point digging into his thigh muscle, even as the balcony creaked and Stacey slipped more…

"DIE FUCKER! DIE FUCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Karen was screaming as she hit V again, and again, V trying to ward off the blows, even as he tried to keep Stacey up, but there was just too much…going on…

The poker raised up again.

_Do not fall in life…_

And then Stacey slipped out of V's grip.

_Nobody…cares enough to catch you…_

Her scream penetrated to the very core of V's being.

And then V's arm EXTENDED, the hand snapping out, impossibly, and grabbing Stacey's ankle again after it had gone a foot. The thing was, V hadn't moved at all. But his arm had.

It was times like these that made V glad he'd lost the original.

Even as his anger at the whole situation exploded through him, as he reached deep and tapped a power he had sworn never to tap, lest it corrupt him, lest it…

No. Screw that.

An Unworthy was in front of him.

_DESTROY._

And with a snarl of deep rage, V's other free hand suddenly glowed black moments before a burst of energy exploded from it, enveloping Karen and throwing her backwards across the room, hitting the wall. The fire poker, the very one her new husband was planning to use on her daughter not five minutes ago, clattered to the ground.

With a grimace, V turned back to Stacey as his arm retracted. Stacey, by now, had thankfully passed out from the fear. Finally getting the proper leverage, V pulled her up and pushed himself off the balcony. Unfortunately for drama fans, there was no following collapse of said balcony a second after V had pulled himself and Stacey off of it.

V took a deep breath and checked on Stacey. She was unconscious but ok. Relief flooded through him.

Then Karen started to get up. V noticed the motion, and the relief was quickly gone. Rage took its place.

This woman was such scum she hadn't cared a whit that her daughter died. She was beyond white trash, beyond sick. She was an utter waste of tissue.

V, spying a blanket on a nearby couch, grabbed it and draped it over Stacey. He then walked over to Karen, picking up the fireplace poker.

"Wha…No…"

V brought the poker down. A scream ran through the room, as V raised it and brought it down again, and again, and again, and again, and again. Blood sprayed on the walls and floor and V, but he didn't care, he just wanted to pay this piece of shit back for every bit of harm she had done, and he did, hitting and hitting and hitting until she no longer resembled a human being.

The poker dripping blood and gore, V finally stopped. He'd turned the room into an abattoir.

And his rage was still going full blast, as his gaze turned to Maxwell, who was starting to stir himself, as V remembered what he read from the man, how he liked hurting Stacey, and what it would eventually progress to, and all the terrible things that Unworthy's thought…

The anger fueled the darkness, as V raised the poker, as the metal began to smoke, and then the blood and chunks of flesh on it literally VAPORIZED off as it suddenly glowed bright red with a heat summoned from god knows where.

"Maxwell…I'm going to fuck you up."

It took a very long time for Maxwell Kall to die.

****************

Roughly twenty minutes later, V stepped into the hallway, cradling Stacey, who was inside the now blood-covered blanket.

The people in the building weren't the brightest sort, and it had taken them a while to get the idea that they had to go somewhere ELSE to call the police, and as a result it had only been about a minute since they had been called when V stepped out.

No one had approached the room, despite the door lying on the floor on the inside of the room. The noises had kept them away. But now that silence reigned, one of them had grown bold enough to open the door and step out.

The sight of V holding the bloody blanket nearly made him turn around and run back in. Somehow, he didn't, as V passed by. However, he was holding the blanket bundle in such a way that the man couldn't see his face clearly.

"What the HELL happened in there?" he said, looking at the bloodstained figure that walked past him.

"Justice." V replied.

Blinking, the man watched V go down the hallway. Strangely, he didn't get a threatening vibe from V. Maybe that was made him step out into the hallway. And it was that certain something that murdered the feline that made him head for the apartment that V had just come out of.

V wasn't looking, but he knew.

"Do yourself a favor. Don't go in there." V said, and walked on.

For a moment, there was silence, as V reached the door for the stairs.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"I told you not to go in there." V said as he stepped through the door.

****************

The officer had just arrived, and since the person that had placed the call was very vague, he wasn't exactly in a state of high alert. Hence, he didn't see V walk out the front door (he was calling in and looking at the radio on his shoulder), and when he looked back V was offering him the blanket.

"Here. Take care of her." V said.

The officer, seeing there was a female head sticking out of the blanket, instinctively took it, laying it down and pulling it back to reveal Stacey, who murmured.

And who also had some bloodstains on her. At this point, the officer realized the blanket was wet with blood as well.

"HEY…!" he yelled, looking back.

V was gone.

*****************

Though he wasn't gone totally, as he watched from a nearby rooftop as more police arrived, then an ambulance, followed by a rainstorm. That last part was the weather, as V stood in it and let the blood wash off of him.

He held out his right hand near the ground, and a small…something crawled onto it. That something was what had produced the jamming signal that had disabled the cell phones. V looked down onto his palm as the thing, which was clearly made of metal, walked to the center. Then the flesh of his palm split open, and when it closed again, by its own accord, the thing was gone.

And so V, as the rain tapered off, retrieved his coat from where he had hidden it, he took one last look as a shabby looking car drove up the battalion of police vehicles on the scene now, and then a second later Harold got out. It didn't take him long to find his daughter.

And for the first time in a long time, V let a slight smile cross his features as Stacey hugged her real father, and her father hugged her back, not knowing or caring about the carnage that had befallen his ex-wife and her new husband. He would be investigated as a suspect of course, but the fact he was working at the time of the murders gave him an airtight alibi and the police could find no evidence he had hired someone to do it.

Of course, that was for later. For now, it was just about his daughter, who he was so glad was unharmed.

"It's all right Stacey…it's all right…" he kept saying.

"Yes, it's all right Stacey…" V said as he vanished into the night. "I caught you."


	14. The Evil That Men Do

Chapter 14: The Evil That Men Do

"So, you're certain you haven't seen him?" Officer Boesch asked.

"Look man, this is my apartment, and despite your probable opinion that we are all oversexed, irresponsible morons, we would TELL you if we saw someone fitting that description. Ok?" the teenager said. His name was Garth Ennis, in case you were wondering.

Not that Officer Boesch could blame the teenager. There had been exactly three witnesses to the man who had just committed two of the most sickening murders he had ever seen in 32 years on the force. With two, he had had his face obscured, and the little girl who had actually seen him was suffering from severe trauma and couldn't remember anything except that he was tall and he wore black. The resulting sketch that the officers had gotten was so vague it could have fit a thousand men.

Boesch had a feeling this one would be going in the "unsolved" file. Not that he really cared. Sure, he, as an officer of the law, had to care about all human life, in theory, but the young girl was finally talking about what her mother and stepfather had been doing, and in truth Boesch couldn't help but think they deserved it.

Plus, this party, which had only caught his eyes due to the noise, was nearly five miles from the crime scene. Witnesses had reported the killer leaving fifteen minutes ago and seeing no vehicles. No one could move that fast…

Well, it was random surveillance, what could he do?

"All right, but if you see anything suspicious, call me, ok?" he said, giving the teen his card. And with that he let Garth close the door and he and his partner left.

Garth, to his credit, waited for the police car to drive away before he turned around and whooped, and all the beer and other alcoholic beverages the teenagers had hidden came out.

And in a chair not seven feet from the door, V relaxed a bit. A sneaking in through a bedroom window, pulling his hair into a ponytail and tucking it under a baseball cap he had found, and then strolling into the party and acting completely natural. Hiding in plain sight. V was very good at that.

"So, as I was saying…" V said, doing his best to blend in by acting like his "peers". Which in this case was telling a story about a sexual conquest he had made up on the spot. But V knew how to speak, and the three men and two women were buying every word. The few drinks they had in them probably helped.

"And to THIS day I flinch whenever I see a jar of soy sauce." V finished. V's audience roared, while V wondered how many brain cells he had lost telling that joke.

V reached into his pocket and pulled out his deck, shuffling it to see if any of his cards were lost or damaged. On the edge of his vision, he saw one of his audience, a pretty blonde, speaking to what appeared to be a friend of hers, a brunette. Something was tugging at the edge of his mind, but he couldn't place it. The brunette walked away, leaving her drink. Well, she didn't exactly WALK away, if you know what I mean.

"Hey, are those Duel Monster cards?" one of the men asked.

"Hey, my little brother plays that came! He wants to find this one card, Crimson-Lensed Draggy or something…" the Blonde With The Friend said.

"Red-Eyed Black Dragon?" V asked.

"Yeah!"

"Those are fairly rare. He'd have better odds sharpening his skills and winning it from someone." V said, spreading his cards out on the table to check again.

"Hey man, aren't you a little old to play some kiddy game?" another one of the males asked.

"Games are all I have left." V whispered.

"What?"

"I said, it isn't just for kids. The amount of strategy in this game is astounding. And the balance is great too. The right cards, the right combos, and some luck, and no matter what your opponent throws at you, you can beat him. Really. I've heard of comebacks against incredible odds that I swear must be some kind of crazy voodoo magic."

"Ah forget that! In the end, I say it just comes down to who has the bigger gun." The last male said. V looked cross.

"Really? Ok then…" V said, flipping the cards over. In a few seconds he had the Vileon, Hikibime, and Bottom Dweller cards on one side of the table and the Queen's Double and four face down cards on his side. "Here is the situation. Do you attack or defend?"

"What, are you kidding? I attack!"

"Of course. You see the numbers and assume victory. But it isn't always numbers that win…sometimes…" V said as he flipped over the face down cards. 'It's how you add them." I won't go into details for the combo, but if this had been a real duel V's opponent would have been hurting.

V took his cards back and began shuffling them again on the table when the second female spied a card.

"Ohhhhh, this one's cool!" she said, snatching it up. "What's this?"

"THAT…" V said, grabbing it back. "Is not a card to be trifled with. Really. Trust me."

"I still say it's a kiddie game."

"Well, if you want to consider something that decided the fate of the world a game, you're welcome to. And now I must take my leave." V said, slipping the deck back into his coat and getting up.

"Hey, did you see where my friend Amy went?" the blonde said. V assumed Amy was the brunette that she had been talking to a moment earlier.

"Sorry, no." V said, looking for an exit. Frowning, the blonde got up and began wandering around. Huh, for a few drinks she was walking fairly…

Wait a second…

What sealed it for V is what he saw in the corner of his eye immediately after his realization: a male making his way out of the room. V only saw him for a second, but his motions looked odd to V. Very…odd.

"Amy? Amy?" the blonde was saying, walking around. Seeing her again, V put together what had been bugging him. There was walking while mildly drunk, there was walking while extremely drunk, and THEN there was walking…

V walked over and picked up the brunette called Amy's discarded drink, turning away as he stuck his finger into it. This would have done a normal man no good, but to V…

V's eyes blinked rapidly for a few seconds. Then their expression hardened.

"Rohyphonol."

V put the drink down and headed after where he had seen the male walking, a hallway that branched off from the living/dining room and kitchen the party was happening in. Back here, the lights were out…except for a brief crack of light coming out of a door at the end of the hall. V walked in, hoping he wouldn't find what he was thinking he might find.

Life disappointed him, as V opened the door.

Amy was lying on the bed, four boys in their late teens over her. The only light source was a small lamp near the bed. Two of the boys were holding her arms, although this really wasn't necessary: Amy was clearly out of it. One of the boys (the one V had seen) was holding her legs, her dress pushed up.

But the thing that was the worst was that as V walked in, the last male, was already taking his pants down, and as V walked in, he turned to see. The look on his face was of that of a pure predator as he acknowledged V's presence.

"Want some? Wait your turn." He said.

V thought he had exhausted his supply of rage. He was wrong, as the fury came roaring back, as he stepped forward and reminded the first would-be rapist why it was a bad idea to expose your genitals by savagely kicking them. The teen doubled over right into V's vicious backhand, throwing him back against the wall.

"Hey…!" the teen V had seen got out before V's fist slammed into his face. The teen staggered back, bumped into the wall, and staggered forward again as V stepped aside and slammed the side of his fist into the back of his head.

The third teen tried to get away, but V stopped him with his favorite punch to the gut/ram face into the knee combo. The forth teen was also trying to run, only to have V flip over the bed and smashed both his heels across the boy's face, knocking him out with yet another satisfying crunch.

The first rapist, his pants still down, was trying to get up, before V grabbed him by his hair.

"WE-" V snarled, slamming the teen's face into the floor. "DON'T-TREAT-WOMEN-LIKE-THAT!" V yelled, punctuating each word with a slam.

His fingers slicked with blood, V walked over and picked up Amy. He was still seething. Why? Because for the few seconds before he had attacked, he had looked at the boys. In the way only he could.

And two things struck deep at him. One was that all of these boys had very wealthy fathers. To the point where they would buy their sons out of any trouble they got into. Including gang-raping a helpless female.

And two was what the would-be rapist with his pants down would have said had V been a woman.

_Want some too, you fucking whore?_

V laid Amy down in another bedroom and checked to make sure she wasn't about to choke on her own vomit. Then, boiling, he left and walked down the hallway.

No one had noticed the mess V had wrought. They were too busy partying. Their own noises and distractions had hidden from them what had happened…and what was to come.

V walked back into the kitchen. He knew what he had to do. With the kind of men their fathers were, these boys would go through life thinking that this kind of behavior was perfectly acceptable. No, it was encouraged. It was what made them men.

Except it didn't. It made them scum. It made them Unworthy. And V had the perfect way to punish these fucks, as he pulled out the biggest kitchen knife he could find.

And once again, the noise of the party covered everything…

By the time the boys were found, V was long gone. In the end, they all needed extensive facial surgery…and they would never be considered men again, in a technical sense.

V had cauterized the wounds to make sure the fucks hadn't bled to death. He wanted those kids to live with their actions the rest of their lives.

And they wouldn't be able to re-attach them.

V had made sure he burnt the organs to ash.

Except one, and they wouldn't be getting back that one either.

V had a better idea for its use.

*******************

It was raining again, as V, by now several miles away, slowly walked out onto the roof, holding his arms out, letting the water wash the blood away and trying to let it cool his anger.

And it was during that that he noticed the pocket where he held his deck was heating up. That could only mean one thing. V found some cover and pulled out his deck, withdrawing a certain card.

"I'll duel some more tomorrow. I need to sort out some issues now."

**_I said your blood was not right to use me. Now I am sure of it. Your mind is warped and…_**

"Cram it." V said.

**_HOW DARE YOU! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH! I WILL BURN YOU INTO NOTHINGNESS!_**

"TRY. IT." V replied.

For a moment, V glared intensely at his card, and he knew that just behind it, an entity of great power was glaring right back, wanting to take this infidel that had dared call him, via a fake construct at that and smite him.

But…there was that. That thing that made it so uncertain. To the point where he was…no, he was not intimidated! He was a god! He had ravaged the world and nearly brought about its end! Even the greatest duelists with the right blood could barely control him! He should blast this heretic right out of existence…

Except…

If what he had read was right…

He could destroy a world.

But V could do…so much more…

If he was right. It could be a trick. A feint.

But one sophisticated enough to fool him?

And so the two had their staring contest for about a minute, neither backing down.

**_…I admire your courage mortal, as foolish and suicidal as it is. I will extend you mercy for now. Tomorrow I may not be so kind._**

"If that helps you sleep at night." V replied. "You call me warped? If what they say is true, you were the supreme judge of the dead. Surely you understand why they had to die."

**_Do not presume to lecture me! I know death more then you ever shall! What you do is not right!_**

"Sure. Sure." V said. "Look. You and I will just agree to disagree. We have more duels to win."

**_Don't patronize me! I may yet rescind my mercy! If I don't decide this sin of yours is already too great and destroy you!_**

V said nothing in return. And in doing so, spoke volumes.

After a bit, V knew his not so little "friend" was gone. He stuck the card back into his deck. He'd head back to the D-Arena and do some planning before he slept.

"Joey Wheeler." V said. V had read him too. He was a good guy, and a highly skilled duelist at that.

But…not quite a Worthy.

But fairly close. Close enough that V would not be surprised if Joey beat him.

But he wouldn't be doing that without one hell of a fight.

As V headed off, he mused if he was done with his little crusades for justice. He ALWAYS went off on those jags, when he should have been playing and winning games.

It was not a good idea to give his dark side too much free reign. Bad things happened then. Far worse then what he had done to those corrupt Unworthys.

The world had better hope no one else angered him with their greed, sickness, cruelty, or pride.

He had the type of rage that fed on itself, a snake that grew bigger every time it consumed its own tail.

What Domino City had seen this night and before was just a warmup.

If someone angered him again…

He would scorch the heavens.

And anyone who got in his way.

No matter who they were.

Next: Joey. MXC. Use your imaginations.


	15. Confederacy of Dunces, Part 1

Chapter 15: Confederacy of Dunces, Part 1

"I TOLD you we were too early." Tristan said.

"Hey shut up! I wanted to make ABSOLUTELY sure I got here first so I can make sure he won't accuse me of chickening out!" Joey said.

"Joey, he met you for five minutes. Somehow I don't think he'll be slandering you." Mai said. She yawned daintily. "I don't know how you managed to talk me into getting out of bed this early."

"Early? It's only 10:00 AM!"

"Like I said, early."

"Joey, I think he'll be here. Can we do something else while we wait?" Tea asked.

"Hmmmmmm I dunno…but I am getting bored of staring at these same two dueling arenas. These kids don't have any style!" Joey said.

"Neither did YOU when you started Joey." Tristan said. "Didn't Yugi beat you 27 times in a row once?"

"I think it was 31." Tea replied.

"Really? I heard 34." Serenity added.

"SHADDUP! Shad…dupppppppp…." Joey said, holding his head. Though he would never admit it, his friends were right. He was a bit of a hothead and he tended to do things on a whim. 

Like challenging that guy, V. Oh, Joey wasn't WORRIED. He was Joey Wheeler! He had that special something! True, not as much as Yugi had, but Joey liked to think that special magical extra something that Yugi brought that had allowed him and Yami to win their way out of so many supposed unwinnable situations belonged to him to. Maybe a smaller amount, but it was there! He'd barely dueled at all before Duelist Kingdom, and he'd come in second! And fourth in Battle City! Not bad for a kid that Seto Kaiba was forever dumping on. He'd like to have seen how long Kaiba lasted if he had been in Joey's place in that Shadow Game again Malik.

And he'd beat that arrogant jackass someday.

But, first he had to beat V. Which brings us back to the original point. Joey wasn't worried. Yeah, V had beaten Mai, but Joey had done the same! Er, ok, bad example for the girl (girl shmirl, she was a _WOMAN_. And what a…ok, moving on now) Joey liked. Where was he? Oh yes, the point was, Joey was sure that his Luck Deck would reward him with a victory, and he was going to back the luck up with skill. He'd spent an hour last night re-familiarizing himself with his cards. He hadn't dueled much since Battle City. And just so you know, the events surrounding the Doom Organization arc had not yet happened.

Off on a tangent again. Point must be made! And the point was, not only would Joey have to swallow a very bitter pill if he lost, but he really didn't have the money to pay for a dinner. Especially if V took Mai to some fancy place, and impressed her with his wit and charm and intelligence, and then he took her back to wherever he lived and…ok, that was it. Now he was not only saying the glass was half empty, he was trying to chip a crack into it! Enough!

Well, Joey was here first, and he was ready. And he wasn't worried. Well, maybe a little.

And he'd dragged all his friends here (except Yugi, who was still recovering. Joey had talked to him last night on the phone, and he'd seemed cheerful and normal enough. On a related note, they still hadn't figured out what happened to the Dine and Dashers who hurt Yugi, or the punk that had nearly raped Tea. Joey hoped they wouldn't. In his eyes, whoever had killed those pieces of shit deserved a medal), and now they had nothing to do. Possibly for hours. V had said he would be back "tomorrow", but at what time?

Maybe V was trying to psyche him out! Maybe…ok, enough!

"Really Joey, maybe we should do something. I think he'll seek you out. From what I gathered, V liked challenges." Mai said. Joey looked at her. Dammit, he wasn't just paranoid, there was a tiny little sparkle in Mai's eyes. She wasn't exactly smitten, but she looked to be eyeing the path to smitten.

Argh. Joey was DEFINITELY going to shut V down now.

"Ok ok, what do you guys want to do? Get a drink? Play some games?" Joey asked, and then the nearby giant screen flicked on. As mentioned, Joey had shown up near the opening time, and hence the facility was still setting itself up for the day. Usually the TV's would repeat a Speaker's corner or something while they waited for duels to begin.

Instead, two Japanese men in weird looking robes popped up.

"Good morning D-Arena!" the more serious one said. "Just letting you know, there are still a few spots available for this month's competition! So sign up if you have the guts!"

"Guts Vic?" the goofier one said. "It's not guts they need, it's bones! Strong ones! I'm talking about ones that can withstand the smacks, and whacks, and bwacks, and…!"

"And not to mention this one Ken." The serious one said, holding what looked to be a folded up paper fan in front of his face. The goofy one, Ken, leaned forward to take a look and what promptly bonked on the back of his head via the other man's hand.

"Ow! Bastard!"

"So if you think you have what it takes, sign up! We are MXC!"

"We put the F-U back in fun!"

And then the screen flipped to one of the dull duels Joey had seen before that was going on in front of him. Argh.

"Well, that passed forty seconds. Maybe…" Joey said, and turned to see all his friends were looking at him. "What?"

Tristan cocked his head, and then jerked it in the direction of the TV. It took Joey several seconds to get it.

"OH NO! NO WAY!"

"You dragged us all here early, we need to kill some time. I think that's a good way." Tristan said.

"No no no!"

"But Joey, it'll be FUN." Serenity said, using her puppy face on her brother. This was one of the rare times when it didn't work.

"Fun my left, er, ear." Joey said, not wanting to be crude in front of Mai. "Fun for you maybe! I'll bet you just want ME to enter, right? No way! I'm not going to make a mess of myself and risk severe injury while you sit in the stands and laugh at me!"

"But Joey, you're in great shape! You can probably win!" Tea said, playing devil's advocate.

"No way! I will not! Never! Ever!" Joey said.

"I think it'd be mighty impressive." Mai said.

"Where do I sign up?" Joey said. Then he realized he hadn't just worn his heart on his sleeve, he'd shoved it in Mai's face. He blushed and gave an embarrassed chuckle, rubbing the back of his head in the way embarrassed people do.

"I mean, er…come on! It's probably already full!"

"We won't know unless you try!" Tristan said, and then he and Serenity actually grabbed Joey and began dragging him along towards the front desk, where you could sign up.

"Hey! I didn't say I'd definitely do this! Hey, c'mon! I don't wanna break my neck! Guyyyyssss!" Joey yelled, but there was no stopping the juggernaut like force of a best friend and little sister seeking a combination of amusement and revenge from their respective other.

"Are we doing a bad thing Mai?" Tea asked.

"Nah. He won't get hurt. Probably. Much." 

*****************

Much to Joey's annoyance, there was indeed a spot left: three actually. He'd had to take a few skill-testing questions to make sure he was fit for competing in this nonsense, and he'd grudgingly answered them. Correctly, and he'd been offered one of the spots. Joey looked over to his friends, who gave him signs of encouragement, behind which they were probably hiding feces-munching grins, if you knew what Joey meant. He signed and accepted, and was ushered through to the locker room for the contestants. But before he did, he managed to call his friends over, and he gave them his deck and other perishable items and extracted a promise from Tristan to immediately go home and get him a new set of clothes. Which Tristan had done, and was now heading back with as Joey stood with the several other dozen contestants who had stupidly signed up for this nonsense.

First the legal stuff: Joey had to sign a bunch of forms that said he was doing this of his own free will and could not sue Kaiba Corp for injury or slander or anything like that, barring certain exceptions like outright racial slurs, which were never made anyway.

Then some other data. There were three teams: red, green, and yellow. Colors were randomly assigned. The team that got the most members of its color through an event without blowing it won the team a point, and whoever had the most points won, yadda yadda yadda a bunch of nonsense. You had two exceptions where if you failed an event you could move on, but if you blew it three times in three different events you were eliminated. There was other data on how prizes were won, like if you made a list at the end of the event and stuff. You could win some decent stuff, all of which could only be claimed from the D-Arena of course.

Then protection. Joey found that if you could find something in your size you could wear boots provided by the event: he quickly switched his nice shoes with a pair. Then a helmet and some pads if you wanted them. Joey took the helmet: he felt the pads would slow him down. You could also give your real name and profession if you wanted: if you didn't, the many comedians calling the event would probably give you another, silly name and/or job. Joey gave his real name and job, if you will. He had spotted Rex Raptor, of all people, doing the same earlier. Rex apparently hadn't seen him though.

Then the teams were told to wait.

Out in the audience, Joey's friends had entered and seated themselves. The arena was set up like a Roman coliseum, a round oval of seats surrounding a large play area. The arena was split in half: one side had one event and while that was being run the other side was set up. Mai had seen the show the previous day: some of the sets were pretty complicated. But that was just like Seto Kaiba: he didn't do anything half-assed.

The show's hosts, a pair called Kenny Blankenship and Vic Romano, stayed up near one of the coliseum edges, with their entourage of weirdos. You could watch the event two ways: by itself, or you could pick up some headphones and listen to Kenny and Vic's running commentary. The thing was, listening to the commentary meant EVERYTHING was dubbed over. If you started an event and said something, the comedians, a very fast acting bunch, would say something over your voice. Which could be very embarrassing if you were being interviewed and said something noble and all your friends heard was you saying how it was a good idea to never re-freeze Sea Bass.

Tristan had made his way back by now, with Joey's new set of clothes, and the group had been sitting and talking while everything was set up.

The event started at noon, and it was prompt. Everyone had their headphones on by then except Serenity, who was keeping one ear free. The TV's that showed close-ups of the events and hosts and whatnot went on, playing the opening.

"What are these people running from? They're not! They're running to…"

"Tea, are you sure this was a good idea?" Serenity asked her friend, as she saw the montage of people getting maimed in the opening.

"Oh yeah! I read something! It's very rare for serious injuries to actually happen. Just a few bruises and a blow to the ego at most." Tea said, and then the event started up as the hosts were introduced. Serenity missed the first line, apparently the more serious host (Vic) had mentioned something about hobbies.

"Hobbies sound cool." Kenny was saying.

"Well they are Kenny."

"How do I get one?"

"Well, it's all based on your interests, Ken. What do you like to do?"

"Well, I like pizzas and chicks." Kenny said. This was his gimmick: he acted like a college freshman with a permanent testosterone flow to his brain.

"Well that's a start, but what do you really like?"

"Oh, I like to bid for stuff on E-Bay."

"Well maybe that's it Kenny. Maybe you're some kind of collector. What kind of stuff are you bidding on?"

"Pizza and chicks!"

"And why not?" Vic said exasperatedly. "And now for a man whose hobbies usually result in restraining orders, Guy Ledouche!"

The camera went to a small man in an old style jungle outfit…except he was wearing shorts. Serenity didn't hear what he was saying though, as she could see the contestants filing into the arena and she was looking for Joey. She thought she saw him.

Guy Ledouche talked on as all the contestants lined up, most of them sitting down. Serenity put his headphones back on.

"And finally, the spinning horror of Log Drop. And now, the Captain."

"Thanks Guy." said a man who had walked in front of the group. He was wearing a white suit and held a thin sword. "How many of you think that hobbies are a stimulating passion and a good way to spend your life? Show of hands, now."

"Yeah!" was the general reaction.

"Well you're wrong! Hobbyists are twisted loners, obsessed with little pieces of paper or collecting every single toy of a show that got canceled twenty years ago! It makes you freaks!" The captain replied. He walked over to a group of three men who had clearly planned to stand out: they were shirtless and they had all drawn defined muscles on their bodies.

What the people mostly didn't know that unlike Guy, the Captain was not miked: the comedians were doing both sets of voices and what the Captain and the contestants were really talking about was known only to them.

"Really, what is this?" The Captain was "saying".

"Our hobby is drawing muscles on our bodies!" one of the drawn-on contestants replied.

"Oh great. How is that going to get you any action?"

"You just wait till we get our chest implants!"

"Oh right…like the captain's going to be scared of a guy with knockers?" he said as he took a few steps back and raised his sword. "Let's go!" he yelled, slashing it down, and all the contestants got up and started running for the first event, which was all set up. The second event was coming into place as well.

"First up, Door Jammers!" Vic was saying, as everyone ran towards a line of walls filled with doors. "The object of the same is to make it on the other side and sprinkle your body with the magic sugar!" Vic said. We can assume he meant the trough of white powder on the other side.

Problem was, not all the doors were real. A few were covered with paper and lead through, but others were covered in wood and some had nets on the other end. And even some of the paper doors weren't safe as there were pits of mud on the other side.

Straining, Serenity finally saw her brother. He was in a good position: near the front but not AT the front. He was spared both problems this way: he didn't have to test the doors, and he didn't get caught up in the huge crush of people that descended on a door once it was found, hence Door Jammers. So Joey continued to flit through the doors, as the hosts picked out random people and talked about them.

"And there's Yuslef Radishhead, Sweden's premier outdoor comedian…OW!" Vic yelled, as "Yuslef" charged into a door and found it was wood. The thing was, he charged into it head first.

"Oh man!" Kenny said, and then Yuslef got up and began looking for the right door, which had been found, and Joey had just gone through. "My god, he's still going! He must feel really stupid!"

"I don't think he's feeling anything from the neck down Ken."

Eventually a timer popped up: Joey made it to the powder two seconds after it did. He jumped in, did a little dance, and then ran on as everyone else tried to make it in time. Not everyone did, and a buzzer went off. Joey was, by now, with a group of people who made it as they waited for the next event.

"That was a good opener." Vic was saying.

"Hey Vic, I have a question. Do you think Freddy Krueger could kick Jason's ass?"

"I'm not familiar with your friends Kenny." Vic replied. "Our next event is Sinkers and Floaters, where our contestant must make it across the Lake of Woe, without stepping on the Stones of Non-Support!"

"Other side, good! Lake, bad!"

The event was a small body of water across which stretched a group of stones. As mentioned, some of those would not support the weight of any contestant who stepped on them. Problem was, those sinkers would switch randomly with every run, so you had to reply on luck. Unlike the last one, where all the contestants had run at once, this was an individual event. The first one was a woman for the yellow team.

"That's Candy Assanopolous, an adult film script writer! She wrote the surprise hit 'My Big Stained Greek Bedding.'"

Candy didn't even make it halfway.

"And now she's got some of her own stains!" Kenny said.

Next was a man.

"Here's Harvey Plugg, he's a driver for Brownies and Lemonade, the world's largest sump pump company!"

Harvey didn't make it either.

"And now, considering where we get that water, he may be sampling his product firsthand!"

Another man.

"That's Chad Cheek, he's a chooser in…" Vic began, and then Chad fell in. "Oh, the Chad chokes, now he's chumming for chowder!"

"Cha-ching!"

Much to Joey's friends surprise, the next contestant was Rex Raptor, who as you recalled, signed up for this several chapters ago.

"That's Rex Raptor, a dinosaur duelist! And he's showing-OWWWWW!" Vic yelled. Rex had been in a good run until he had taken a glancing step/jump off a rock that had been a sinker: the screwup had caused him to spin around and fall down HARD on another rock, rear end first, so strong that he literally bounced off before he fell in. The whole arena groaned very loudly at this. Even Joey's group felt bad for Rex, that had looked like it HURT.

"Oh, Rex ruins his run and ruptures his rectum!"

"Revolting!"

"Right!"

Rex pulled himself out of the water and walked off holding his butt. Much to Serenity's delight, Joey came charging over the hill.

"Yay! Go Joey!" he cheered, as Joey began sprinting over the rocks.

"Here's Joey Wheeler, he's…" Vic began.

"Wow this guy's fast!" Kenny said. Indeed, Joey was practically flying over the stones, and before either of the hosts could say anything he had made it across.

"And he makes it!" Vic said. Joey's fanclub cheered as Joey pumped his fist in the air and ran on. "That deserves an MXC Impact Replay!"

A slow motion look at Joey's run came up.

"Now this is a brilliant strategy Vic. He runs really quickly and doesn't fall in." Kenny said.

"Insightful as always Kenny." Vic replied.

Joey was now on the other side, and was actually being interviewed because he was the first one across. It wasn't played, as the TV's were focusing on the event, as another man showed up.

"Here's Mile Rogers." Vic said.

"I work for no one!" Mile said. Well, the comedians said it for him.

"He's a rigless truck driver, which means he has no truck, no trailer for rent, or room to let 50 cents. No pool, no phones, no pets for that matter."

"I bet he's got no cigarettes."

"He is definitely a man of means by no means."

"He's like king of the road."

"Right you are Ken."

And Miles fell in, having almost made it.

"And now he's king of the mud!" Kenny said.

Next up was a woman.

"Here's Biganno Ying-Werds! She's a book complicator for Nerds R Us." Vic said.

"Ugh, I think my school hired her for my high school English essay…" Kenny said, and then Werds fell in. "Ha ha! There's only one verb to describe that: loser."

"Or perhaps a noun." Vic replied.

"What's that?"

"Never mind…"

Another man.

"Here's Tabuli Babaganosh, owner of Happy Jihad's One Way Truck Rentals." Vic said. Two seconds later, Tabuli mistimed a jump and fell in, his leg getting caught and yanked up by one rock while a glancing blow to his head from another knocked his helmet off.

"Ow!"

"I think his ankle bone just forced the top of his head off!"

"Right you are Ken."

Yet another man.

"And here's Chuck Woodward, a lumberjack." Kenny said.

"Which begs the question, how much wood would Chunk Woodward chuck if Chuck Woodward could chuck wood." Vic said.

Chuck made it.

"Who knows, but we know he's a winner!" Vic said.

And on it went until everyone was across: the time was needed to set up the next course.

"Well Kenny after two rounds the red and green teams each have a point and the yellow team is in second, or last place with nothing!" Vic said.

"I wonder if they're afraid." Ken cracked. Silence. "Sorry, it sounded funny in my head!"

In the next chapter, the last three events! Will Joey make it, or will he be eliminated?


	16. Confederacy of Dunces, Part 2

Chapter 16: Confederacy of Dunces, Part 2

"We're back!" Vic Romano said. "Kenny, tell the dear readers what they missed."

"Nothing Vic, we're still setting up the next event."

"Kenny!"

"What?"

"Well, let's reminiscence then."

"What?"

"Think of past events!"

"Oh. Well then, how about our last event and our disaster at the end? Nobody won our event! I don't know why, our new game Eat Shitake was pretty cool!"

"Abet dizzying and vertigo inducing Ken."

"I suppose." Ken said. On the screen finally came the explanation of what they were talking about: a game where contestants had to hold onto a spinning platform shaped like a mushroom. And since they only got one handhole, all of them were falling off.

"This one was really bad Vic." Kenny was saying, referring to one where the contestant made it to the platform but didn't let go, and actually went past it until the mushroom platform stopped. He tried futilely to make it back over, but in the end he fell in. As this happened, Kenny explained it.

"A real bad mushroom trip! He's disoriented, his stomach's all upset, he goes past, but he's hallucinating, he thinks he sees five or six platforms, then he just gets paranoid and jumps in the fluid."

"Sounds like you know a lot about shrooming."

"Uh yeah. I mean no!"

"Right you are Ken." Vic replied. "Oh, I hear we're ready for the third event. Before we do, I'd like to remind you that next month's edition of MXC will be a special couples edition. So bring your wife, your girlfriend, your mistress!"

"Or if you're from the south, just bring your sister!"

"KENNY! That's not polite!" Vic said, giving Kenny a whack with his paper fan. "Anyway, next month it's just for couples!"

"Kind of like us Vic."

"I'm sorry Ken, I don't follow you."

"We're kind of like, a couple."

"…Well yes, I suppose you could stretch it a little. We're a professional, PROFESSIONAL couple…of guys."

"If I were to hug you right now, would that be gay?"

"KENNY, I JUST NEED YOU TO SKOOCH BACK ON YOUR SIDE OF THE BOOTH! We're a professional couple, we need to keep a professional distance, ok?"

"Right right."

"Finally, our third event! The Rotating Surfboard of Death! Catch a wave, dodge the dolphin, or die!"

The event was indeed set around a rotating surfboard that went in a circle. Contestants climbed up some stairs, hopped on, tried to jump over a pink fish/dolphin thing that was in the way, hop onto another platform, get over it before the surfboard completely passed under it and hop back on, hop over another pink fish/dolphin, and then hop onto the final platform, which was the finish. To make it complicated, the surfboard wasn't very wide or stable.

A glasses-wearing professional man was first.

"Through the roof!" he said. Actually, what the comedians said.

"That's Warren Muffet, professional stock trader. He…" Vic said as Warren stepped on the surfboard and fell off immediately.

"Aw man, he tripped on his Dow and got all tangled up in his Jones!" Kenny said.

Next up, a female.

"And here's Martha Grabbage, she…hey…" Kenny said.

"What Ken?"

"Take a look!" Jen said as Martha got on the surfboard, thought she too nearly fell off, falling on her butt. Kenny, on the meantime, had zoomed in on her T-Shirt. Which had a picture on it. Of Vic Romano.

"How come your face is on a T-Shirt and mine isn't?"

"Because I'm pretty?"

At this point Martha, still trying to get up, didn't make it enough to jump over the dolphin, and she got pushed off.

"Oh, Martha is down! That calls for an MXC Impact Replay!"

The replay came up.

"What a moron, she tried to go UNDER the dolphin. Shows you how smart your fans are Vic."

"Kenny, that's not nice."

"Aw don't worry Vic, you still have me!"

"Kenny, I need you to skooch back to your side of the booth."

"Sorry."

A new man.

"That's Justin Timberwolf! He's an environmentalist who drives people away from rainforests by both scaring and annoying them by howling at the moon in a girly-high voice." Vic said.

"Yeah, but it says here what he really wants is to be an astronaut. Heh! Assstronaut."

"Kenny…"

"Assssstronaut."

"Kenny, behave!"

At this point Justin, who had made it over the first dolphin, hopped up onto the first platform, but he leapt off it too late and fell off the end of the surfboard into the water.

"And his fifteen minutes are up!"

"Yeah. Heh. Ass-tro-naut."

"Kenny!"

A woman.

"That's Lenona Bolski! She's the host of the show 'Who Wants To Marry My Ugly Daughter.'" Vic said.

"I feel sorry for the guy who won."

Lenona tripped over the first dolphin, bounced off the board, and fell.

"And now I feel sorry for her!"

Another man.

"And that's Chester Ryan! He's a sheet rocker who doubles as a tub caulker." Vic said.

"Tub Caulker? So he's into fat chicks?"

"I'm not sure what he's into Ken."

"Then what does he do with his caulk?"

"He sticks in the crack."

"So he's in porn then?"

"No Kenny, he's in construction!"

"What? You said he sticks his caulk in the crack, and yet he's in construction. I thought you said he was a sheep stalker!"

"I said a SHEET ROCKER. And I was talking about caulking compound!"

"He built a PLACE to do this?"

"Kenny, no, he uses his compound to fill cracks with his caulk!"

"Am I missing something here…?"

"Well thanks to you Kenny we just missed the entire run…" Vic said, as Chester had indeed almost made it all the way around. But he screwed up on the last jump and fell in.

"I wonder if that hurts as much as my head does now." Kenny said.

"One can hope so Ken."

Next came…Joey. And the group cheered (yeah, they're still here).

"Ah, here's Joey Wheeler."

"This is easy!" Joey yelled. Well, he stuck his fist up and yelled something: the comedians said that. Serenity knew: the voice didn't sound anything like her brother's.

"Let's see how fast he can…" Vic began.

And then Joey stepped on the board, tripped, slipped, and fell heads over heels into the water. Mai gasped, and then began laughing uncontrollably.

"Oh man, that WAS fast! That deserves an MXC Impact Replay!" Kenny said.

It came up. Mai and the others started laughing all over again.

"See Vic, his posture is all screwed, his balance is all messed up, and here's the big mistake Vic: he tried to stand on thin air."

"Never a good move Ken." Vic said. Joey had swum out and was walking on, looking irritated. Tristan whooped and hollered, though whether Joey actually heard him, I don't know.

A new man came out.

"I'm too generous!" he "yelled."

"That's Buster Agrad, a student. He's very bighearted: he actually donated his knees!" Vic said.

Buster got on the surfboard.

"He's doing pretty good for a guy without knees." Kenny said.

"Well Kenny, he's using pig ears in place of them."

"Pig ears?"

"Yes, pig ears are supposed to keep them very balanced…" Vic said, and then Buster fell into the water. "Er, not that it helped that guy much."

"Man, he fell right on his astronaut!"

"Kenny!"

A female.

"Smell my feet, they're really neat!" she said. Ok, that was DEFINITELY the comedians.

"That's Candance Stump! She's on the Woman's Sniper Team at Grassy Knoll Academy!" Vic said.

"Heh, she's a sniper? Then maybe…"

"Not advised to say that Ken, she can put a bullet through an apple at 100 yards."

"Really? Vic, I'm scared! Hold me!"

"Kenny, I need you to just skooch back onto your side of the booth!"

"Ah."

"Well Kenny, no need to be afraid…" Vic said as Candance jumped over the last pink fish thing and sprang to the final platform. "She made it!"

"Oh thank god, I thought I was dead!"

"We're going to have Captain Tenneal interview her." Vic said. Unlike Joey, this interview was shown right away.

Who knows what the two really said? This is what the crowd heard.

"This is for all the girls back at the dorm who said I sucked at everything and I wasn't going to win. I hate you all and you can kiss my ass!"

"You should date Guy." The Captain replied.

Another male showed up.

"That's Able Greenspan! He's a butter substitute teacher!"

"He's a what?"

"Don't ask me Ken, I just work HERE." Vic said.

Able made it over the first fish and the platform, but he didn't time the second jump right and he flew forward, nearly crashing into the platform that held the fish up, flipping over it. He tried to hang on, but failed and fell in the water.

"Oh, Able tries for the brass ring, but gets too fancy and ends up eating a mouthful of pink…wood that is!" Kenny said.

Another man.

"This is Pocal Hauntes! He's a Indian Native American!"

"Which one Vic?"

"I don't know Ken. This PC age may seemingly be better, but it can be darn confusing!" Vic said.

Pocal ALMOST made it, but he jumped too far when he tried to jump over the second fish/dolphin and overshot the surfboard, only one of his legs catching it and driving his knee up, nearly bonking it into his chin as he fell.

"And Pocal nearly scalps himself!" Vic says.

"That deserves an MXC Impact Replay!"

The replay came up.

"He jumps into a Wounded Knee, right into a Geronimo Drop, but he can't make it back to the teepee and becomes the Last of the Mohicans!"

"And that's enough of the Indian jokes Kenny."

"Yes Kemosabe."

"Kenny!"

"Fine. Asssssssstronaut."

"KENNY!"

And so it went. Finally all the contestants were done.

"We'll be back after this commercial break!"

"MXC! Heap Great Show!"

"KENNY!"

And the TV'S actually played a few commercials, mostly the Kaiba one (it WAS his building, after all). Mai, who was looking for Joey, found the commercial very annoying and condescending. But she'd met Kaiba, and she knew that was just the way he was.

She finally spotted Joey. Now that three events had passed, a few dozen contestants had left, as they hadn't made it for all three. He was trying to wring water out of his wet clothes. She found it cute.

Then the show was starting up again.

"All right Kenny, why don't you tell us about our next event!" Vic said.

"It'z called Poridersssss…" Kenny said.

"Kenny, you just slurred that entire sentence! Are you intoxicated?"

"Naw, just drunk."

"Aw for the…our next event is Pole Riders! Ride the pole down onto the platform and not into the drink!"

"Platform good! Anywhere else, bad!"

This game was a modified version of pole vaulting: rather then trying to use the pole to spring yourself over a platform, contestants were placed on a high cliff over a small lake on which there was a padded platform. A pole vault, er, pole was on the cliff, and they had to properly use it to guide themselves down onto the platform. Not as easy as it sounded: most people had no idea how to grip the pole correctly.

First up was a man.

"That's Jimmy Downs, he drives a short truck for special deliveries." Vic said.

"Yeah, his route is up and down the driveway."

Jimmy thrust off and slipped, falling into the water.

"Oh and he's up and Jimmy is down!"

Another man. He made a weird buzzing noise.

"And here's Ken Demitriosis! He's a chainsaw artisan!" Vic said. Ken jumped off, but he leaned his weight the wrong way and fell off the pole, making it snap violently as he did a 180 flip and landed in the water for a belly flop.

"OW!"

"That was a work of art."

"Right you are Ken."

Yet another man.

"That's Rip Hymen, a honeymoon consummation coach." Vic said.

"His motto is practice practice practice." Kenny said.

"Unfortunately too many couples are too chapped to perform on their actual wedding night." Vic replied.

Rip fell just short of the platform.

"Wow, I don't know how much Rip practiced for this event, but more would have helped." Kenny said.

Finally a woman.

"That's Ginger Ale!" Vic said.

"Does she go down easy?" Kenny cracked. Tristan smirked, all the females rolled their eyes. Men.

"I…" Vic was saying, but Ginger, lacking any real arm strength, let go of the pole as soon as she was off, sliding down it into the water. The motion almost seemed to be done on purpose, and Mai fully expected the comedians to jump all over it. They did.

"Wow, she does go down easy!"

"So nice and graceful! Not many people can ride pole like that!"

"No Kenny, she did it like this."

"No, like this."

"Like THIS."

"Like THIS."

"LIKE THIS."

"LIKE THIS."

"Kenny…ok, let's move on."

Another man.

"That's Damien Omen! He runs Apocalypse…Soon Inc." Vic said.

"That guy gives me the willies."

"Well Ken, his company does specialize in plagues and hoarding lamb's blood."

Damien got a really weird run: he took off, balanced in mid-air for a second, and then one of his hands slipped, and in attempt to stabilize himself he twisted and went tumbling down the pole in a weird twirling motion.

"Oh man, look at that!" Kenny said. "As you can see, his pole is completely possessed as it stands up on his own and tosses him off, and then his evil soul is completely separated from his body, and here his head spins completely around before he's sent straight to hell. BEGONE, DEMON!"

"Ok, Ken."

"It's pretty scary!"

"Kenny, I just need you to skooch back over to your side of the booth."

"Sorry."

Joey was up next.

"Here's Joey again! Let's see if he can do better on this event." Vic said.

"I don't see how he could do any worse."

Joey backed up, ran, vaulted, and got some major height…so major he went PAST the platform and landed in the water beyond. The whole arena could hear him yell.

"Ha! That deserves an MXC Impact Replay!" Vic said. Apparently they liked Joey: they kept giving him Replays.

"Now here's his problem Vic: he doesn't land on the platform!"

"Insightful as always Ken."

"Uh oh. I hope he makes the next event or he'll be eliminated." Tristan said to Tea. She nodded.

"Pretty funny though!" Tea replied. Joey had swum out and was walking off trying to wring his clothes dry again.

A woman. She said "Marvelous!"

"And here's Leeze Gizbet! She's the host of Ass-Kiss Hollywood." Vic said.

"Man, she loves everybody. She gave Jiggly five stars."

"Ken, it's pronounced 'GIG-LI'"

"Oh that movie sucked." Ken replied. Leeza fell in the water. "And so did that pole run!"

"Next up, Stringy of the famous movie reviewer combo Stringy and Ropey!" Vic said as another man showed up.

"Oh yeah, they gave Jiggly two fists up."

"Ken, it's pronounced 'GIG-LI'"

"Oh they hated it." Ken replied. Stringy didn't make it either. "Probably as much as they'll hate that."

Another woman.

"Here's Elka Anderson! She's a window painless dentist." Vic said.

"She'll stain your teeth, but they'll be pretty colours!" Ken said.

And Elka actually made it, landing on the platform.

"And Elka is our winner! That deserves an MXC Impact Replay!" Vic said. It came up.

"That is some magnificent pole riding there."

"Yeah, but look at this!" Ken said, as he began rewinding and replaying. "Look at her chest! I don't think she's wearing a bra, she's all Gigli."

"Ken, it's pronounced 'Jiggly'."

"MAKE UP YOUR MIND!"

"Hey Serenity." Mai was saying, poking the girl. "Look, I think something's wrong with Joey."

Serenity took off her headphones and followed Mai's pointing finger. Indeed, her brother had been pulled away from the small crowd awaiting the final event and was talking to two men. And from his posture, he didn't look too happy, but he followed the two men as they gestured him, walking off the arena.

"Where's he going? Where are they taking him?"

"I don't know. They were talking to him when I first saw it."

"Is he in trouble?" Tea asked.

"I don't see how. It's not like he's cheated or anything." Tristan replied.

"Maybe Kaiba saw him on TV and decided to be a prick and pull him off." Mai suggested.

"That would be just like Kaiba." Tristan replied.

"Should we leave?" Serenity asked.

"I don't know…" Mai said.

Then Joey was back, running back to the group. Strangely, he now had a red and yellow handkerchief sticking out of each of his pockets.

"He's back!" Serenity said.

"Wonder what that was about." Tea said. While the group had been occupied, the Pole Riders event had ended and they had gone onto another commercial break. Out of the corner of her eye, Serenity saw one of the men who had escorted her brother off the field come up to the box where the hosts and their entourage were and give Vic a piece of paper, which the host read.

Then the show was back on.

"All right, we're back! Kenny?"

"It's ok Vic, I feel better."

"What'd you do Kenny?"

"I threw up."

"You sure did, Kenny. Phew."

"Yeah, during the last commercial break I snuck out and puked it someone's car. It was just this old piece of junk parked near the dumpster."

"Kenny, that didn't happen to be an old Grey Cordova did it?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Aw crap! Look Kenny, you may think drinking and puking is all fun, but let me tell you, alcohol is a harsh mistress! Sure she seems all fun and warm at first, before you know it she plunges her icy fingers down your throat and rips out your VERY SOUL!"

"Dude, you need a drink."

"Argh!" Vic snarled. "Anyway, time for our final event for this month: Log Drop! Step daintily over the revolving rolls, or plunge into the putrid pit of pus!"

"Stay dry, good. Get wet, bad!"

The event was pretty much that: about eight large round logs suspended over a pit of dirty water, set at different heights. It was a very tricky game of speed, balance, grace, and luck.

First up was a woman.

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful! Ok, you can hate me." She said.

"That's Crystal Mungs! She's a champagne flutist designer by trade and president of AA meetings by night."

"Isn't that kinda self-defeating?"

"Perhaps Ken, but it's a living."

And then Crystal Mungs fell, and it was BAD. She slipped forward, landing on one log, and her back bent up even as her legs, still on the other long, bent up themselves before she fell in. The whole audience groaned.

"OW!" Vic said.

"That was awesome!" Kenny said.

"And that DEFINITELY deserves an MXC Impact Replay!" Vic said. The unpleasant sight came up. Crystal was getting out of the water: apparently she had managed to avoid serious injury.

"Aw man Vic, her head touched her heels!"

"The human spine is not meant to be bent that way Ken." Vic replied. Crystal appeared to be ok: apparently she was very flexible.

Next up was a man.

"That's Benedict Arnoldson! He teaches revised history at Domino University." Vic said.

"Yeah, I never knew George Washington liked to do that with sheep. And with butter as well, yikes!"

Arnoldson made it three logs before he slipped and fell forward into the drink headfirst.

"And Arnoldson falls!"

"One can only wonder if the Ninth Circle of Hell will be as painful as that!"

Another man, who said something to Captain Tenneal, who was standing by the platform before the logs.

"Viva La France!" he said, or that's what the crowd heard.

"Yeah yeah, go on." The Captain said as he waved him out.

"That's Vichy Chirac, he's a forfeit instructor at the French Military College of Capitulation."

Perhaps cursed by the joke, Vichy made it two logs before he fell in.

"And he surrenders to the inevitable post-haste." Vic said.

Next up was a female, who stood out because of her very large knee-pads: she must have brought them herself.

"Next up is York Banks!"

"Does she do what I think she does?"

"Kenny! Be polite! She brought those to protect her!" Vic said, and at that point York fell into the water.

"Those knee pads didn't help her much."

"Actually Ken, I just found out they got her into this contest."

Another man.

"Stains!" he yelled.

"That's Tom Pants! He works for BPSI: Bachelor Party Scene Investigations. He is hired by brides to find out what really went on at bachelor parties."

"Yeah, he picks up hair samples and bullet fragments, and then checks for blood with Luminol."

"Kenny, I'm talking about bachelor parties!"

"Yeah, GOOD ones."

Tom made it to the second last log before he slipped, his legs splitting, and he fell on the log and was dumped into the water.

"Ow! He landed right on his nads!"

"Kenny!"

"Oh sorry, wrong verb. Nards."

"Kenny…"

"Fine. He landed on his astronaut."

"KENNY!"

Another man.

"Here's Roman Fife, a recovering addict." Kenny said.

"What was he addicted to? Drugs? Alcohol?"

"Adult film soundtracks."

"I don't believe I'm familiar with that, is that tracking music?"

"Nah, more like whacking music." Kenny said, and the Roman fell in. "And it appears he's also addicted to pain!"

Next up, a woman. Oddly, she was wearing a flower pot on her head with a big plastic blossom coming out of it.

"Here's Robin Banks! She's specializes in disposal of unwanted pets in bizarre ways."

"Yeah, her business is called 'That Darn Catapult.'"

Robin made it four logs before she slipped and fell backwards, bouncing back and forth a bit before she fell in.

"Ow. I think she bent her flower." Kenny said.

"Indeed Ken." Vic said, as Robin got out of the water.

"Still, nice astronaut."

"Kenny!"

A man next.

"Here's Kevin Garbabacle! His claim to fame is memorizing the whole script to the first Star Trek film in forty minutes!" Vic said.

"Man, it took me a week to do that. He must have one of those pornographic memories." Ken said.

"Kenny!"

"What?"

"…Never mind."

Kevin fell in.

"And I wonder if he'll remember that!" Vic said.

A woman next.

"And here's Michelle Lob, she's a headputter for bars."

"Vic, you can't say that on TV!"

"No Ken, she puts foam on top of beers. The head."

"Oh." Ken said.

Michelle stepped on the first long…and slipped off, slamming her face into the second log before bouncing off and hitting the back of her head on the first log before falling in. The whole crowd groaned.

"MY GOD!" Kenny said.

"If that doesn't deserve an MXC Impact Replay, I don't know what does!" Vic said. Medics ran out to see if the woman needed help while the hosts distracted the crowd by playing the replay.

"Vic watch this. She starts to lean forward, extends her hands perfectly, to precisely smash her face into the log. Owtch! I can't watch that again…well maybe once more…" Kenny said as the blow rewound and replayed. "Ow! That was painful!" Rewind. "Ow it's painful from that way too!" Replay. "Ow it's painful a third time!"

"A true MXC Champion." Vic said. Michelle seemed to be ok.

Joey was the last one. The crowd cheered: they recognized him.

"And once again, here's Joey Wheeler! Ken, I have an announcement. Joey started this event playing for the Green Team, but due to a computer mishap the scores have been messed up. And after many arguments, we finally decided to settle it this way. Therefore, Joey is now playing for the Red, Green, and Yellow Teams!"

"Lots of responsibility."

"Indeed. We had a chance to talk to Joey earlier."

And finally Joey's interview came up. Of course, what he said wasn't what was played.

"I love the captain. He's my idol. I even have one of his collectable lunchboxes." Joey "said". The group looked at each other and cracked up: both at the voice that had been dubbed over Joey's and his certain reaction if he ever saw it.

"Joey's the last contestant, let's see how he does…" Vic said, as Joey started, and slipped immediately, his foot jamming into the very small gap between the platform and the first log. He reared back, and the Captain went to help him, just as Joey tried to get back onto the platform, and the end result was that he reared back and sat on the Captain's sword, breaking it. It was just a cheap prop, but the Captain, an experienced comedian, immediately played it up.

"Aw man, he broke the Captain's sword!" Ken said. "That's a family heirloom!"

"Congratulations, you just bought yourself a 39$ sword." The captain said (well, his dubber said, as the actual man pointed at the audience). "So why don't you just look out there and say goodbye to your friends, because life as you know it has just changed pretty boy!"

Joey said something else, and then turned and started back across the logs, this time not slipping.

"Man, it must suck to have your idol hate you now." Kenny said.

Joey nearly fell off the forth log, but he managed to grab onto the fifth one, balance himself, push himself over and spring up to the sixth log and run with the momentum before he finally tripped and fell on the eight log, falling onto the ninth log and off the edge…until he grabbed ahold of the platform and yanked his way up to the platform.

"He makes it! We have a winner!" Vic said, as Joey did a little dance.

"So Joey fixes the score. Vic, what was it?"

"It was…2 to 2…to 2."

"So Joey scores a point for the Red Team, the Green Team, and the Yellow Team…thus tying up all the points again…"

"And making this whole thing pretty much, pointless." Vic finished.

Joey had headed off the arena, which was shutting down, as the hosts thanked the crowd and told them to stick around while they decided on the top ten eliminations. The crowd started to file out.

"You think he was really mad Joey broke his sword?" Serenity asked the group.

"Nah, it was a joke. Joey's fine. I think." Mai replied.

The group headed for the exit. Tristan was allowed in to give Joey his new clothes. He came out, as the TV played random D-Duels. Various contestants filed out, waiting for everything to be finalized so they could claim their prizes. They included Rex Raptor, who still looked sore.

Several minutes later Joey walked out in his new clothes, combing his wet hair with his fingers (they had a shower in the locker room, which Joey had used to tidy himself up).

"There! You happy!" he half-yelled.

"Oh calm down you big baby. You didn't even get hurt." Mai said.

"You think falling twelve feet into water is a breeze? It smarts!"

"You'll live." Mai said, smiling in that way she had.

Joey cracked his neck. Serenity gave him back his deck and wallet.

"Thanks sis."

And at that point the TV nearest the group switched back on, showing Vic and Kenny.

"Well another great show Kenny. We had us some moments, and no one got hurt. Severely." Vic said.

"Hey, Vic, remembering when I was talking about hobbies? I just realized, I had one all along!"

"What?"

"This!"

IT'S TIME FOR KENNY BLANKENSHIP'S MOST PAINFUL ELIMINATIONS OF THE DAY!

"At Number 10, Ken Demitriosis (falling off his pole), chainsaw artisan! He gets smacked, crushed, jabbed, whacked! It's a chainsaw massacre!"

"At Number 9, stock trader Warren Muffet (falling off the surfboard), who shoulda sat on his tuffet instead of bleeding his curds away. Looks like he was mother-goosed from the get go!"

"At Number 8, Robin Banks (bounced around in the log drop), interesting pet disposalist, gets dehumanely neutered and then gets put down!"

"At Number 7, Damien Omen (spinning off the pole), who gets smited right off the pole and is damned to suck dam water. DAMMMIIIEEEENNNN!"

"At Number 6, Joey Wheeler!"

"You made the list Joey!" Tristan said. Joey didn't know whether to be happy or angry.

"This kid can really shoot across the stones (Joey running across), but when he shoots for the moon (going past the platform in Pole Riders), he overshoots the mark! (splash!)"

"At Number 5, Crystal Mungs, (folding in half girl) champagne flutist, or floutist, er, whatever, who can't stay on the wagon, on the logs, or even in the proper shape for a human body!"

"At Number 4, Tabuli Babaganosh, (leg and helmet in Sinkers and Floaters) who zigs where he should have zagged and really regrets it! Someone find his Baba, maybe they can re-attach it to his Ganosh!"

"At Number 3, Able Greenspan (hits the second wooden pole in RSOD), who leaps where he should have looked, and gets closer to wood then a straight man ever should!"

"And this was a real tough one, but after careful consideration, I have to give No 2 to Michelle Lob (faceplant on logs), putter of head on beer, who really uses her head here! Too bad. She used to have a pretty face before it became a pound of fleshburger!"

"And my most painfulest elimination of the day, all things considers, goes to…Rex Raptor!"

"WHAT?" Joey said, as Rex's run and how it ended came up.

"A dinosaur deck duelist, who slips in Sinkers and Floaters and drives his coccyx all the way into his cerebral cortex! Bet he wishes his brain was the size of a walnut. Owtch! Someone call a paleontologist, this guy's extinct! Yow. Hold me Vic."

"Ken I need you to just skooch back over to your side of the booth."

"Oh, right, sorry."

And the camera came back on the two.

"Well, that's all the time we have for this month. We'll see you next month with our special couples edition! Take it away Kenny!"

"Asssssstronaut."

"Kenny!"

"All right. What do we always say, guys?"

"DON'T GET ELIMINATED!" Everyone yelled, sticking their fists up. The picture began to fade.

"Asssssssssssssstronaut."

"KENNY!"

And it went to black, as several men began giving out gift certificates and such, according to teams and other things. The people who had made the Top Ten list were called over and given different prizes.

"So what did you get Joey?" Tea asked as Joey came back.

"I came out pretty good, since I helped them with the score, or tried to anyway. They gave me this D-Card, it's a blank fusion card. I can program any Fusion monster I want on it!"

"Got any ideas?"

"Hell yeah! I also got this 50$ Gift certificate for the restaurant here."

"Great! Let's go eat!" Tristan said.

"Heck no! This is mine! I was the one who suffered for it!" Joey said, keeping his gift close to him.

"But Joey, you're not going to let me starve, are you?" Mai said, primping.

"That ain't gonna work this time Mai! I'll win us dinner when I duel V!"

"Fine then. I'll do this the hard way." Mai said, and then she grabbed Joey by the ear and began dragging him along as he yelled in protest. The others followed him, amused.

"I'll bet that hurt a lot!" Weevil, who had come to see Rex, and had been highly amused at what had befallen him, said to his semi-friend, as Rex walked off with his own certificates and a small trophy for getting No 1.

"Not as much as your poem." Rex replied.

Weevil sputtered and growled.

********************

"My gift certificate, all gone…" Joey moaned as he walked along.

"You couldn't have eaten 50$ worth of food anyway." Tea said.

"I wouldn't bet on it." Tristan replied. Of the meals they had ordered, half the cost of the bill had come from all the stuff Joey had gobbled down.

"Well Joey, I think you looked good out there, and you were so kind to treat us to lunch!" Serenity said, beaming. Joey was glad, but he would have preferred a nice comment from Mai.

But he didn't get it, as he suddenly heard a very loud clapping noise. He turned to see a pair of hands above a bench, clapping loudly to get his attention. Whoever it was was watching a repeat of the show Joey had just been on.

"Very amusing Joey." V said, getting up from his bench. "Abet not the smartest thing, but that seems to be your stock in trade."

"V! Why you…!" Joey growled, clenching his fist. "You wanna see my real stock in trade! Let's step outside!"

"No Joey. Calm down He-Man." Mai said, putting a hand on Joey's shoulder. "Afternoon V. I see you had enough brains to come in at a reasonable hour."

"And you didn't? Don't you need your beauty sleep?" V replied. Mai responded as a girl who was being flirted with might have, but V wasn't really flirting. He was trying to push Joey's buttons: his reactions were amusing, and it would reinforce his desire to beat V. And hopefully make him a tougher opponent. Which V wanted.

"WHY YOU! That's it! You, me, arena, NOW! I'll show you what REAL embarrassment is about, after I take you apart! Hope you're not too full guys, I'm gonna take you someplace grand after I take you to the cleaners!"

"Unless I eliminate you first." V replied calmly.

"Oh VERRRYYYYY funny. Did you spend all night thinking that one up?" Joey shot back.

"Hmmm. By the way Joey, _Scarface_ called. They want their accent back."

Joey was again reduced to sputtering and having to be held back by Tristan and his sister. V just chuckled and walked past.

"See you at the arena. Try not to be late."

"Argh!" Joey growled. "Gonna trash you in four turns you rassffraraafarffafara…"

And then Mai realized she had never told Joey V's big trick. She had somehow completely forgot.

"Joey, wait. That guy…he beat me because, I don't know how, but…" Mai began.

"Save it Mai! I don't want any help! I'll beat this guy on my own!" Joey said.

"But…"

"Mai, please. I respect your dueling abilities. Please, respect mine."

Mai was silent.

Maybe Joey was more mature then she thought.

But still, she hoped nothing bad would happen.

As strong as V was, you had to wonder about the things that could go wrong with that kind of card.

**********************

"I assume you want Battle City rules." V said as he and Joey were lifted up to the arena.

"Yeah, unless you can't play with the big boys!" Joey replied.

"I can. Should I go find one then?"

"WHY YOU! YOU ARE SO DEAD!" Joey growled. For once, it wasn't just V and his duel opponent: Joey's friends were in the arena as well. "I'm going to beat you so bad, your ancestors will feel it!"

"If you say so."

"Damn straight! I'll show you! I didn't see you anywhere in Duelist Kingdom or Battle City, and I finished 2nd and 4th there out of a field of hundreds! Top that!"

"You finished second?"

"Yeah!" Joey said, giving him a thumbs up.

"So here we have the second place finisher, or rather, final loser. Where's the guy or girl who came in first?"

Joey facevaulted.

"That's it! Really! Time to put your cards where your mouth is!" Joey said, pulling out his deck and shuffling it, making sure he inserted the D-Card he had won and programmed to his fusion of choice.

"I'll gladly do that if you will. Just be careful you don't stick your foot in there as well." V said. He really shouldn't be doing this. He actually liked and respected Joey, from what he had read about him. But he just reacted SO marvelously…

Like he was doing now. V was surprised steam wasn't shooting out of his ears.

If Joey wasn't so good, V would consider throwing the duel to let him save face. But Joey was good. He was great, actually, and V was coming at him full bore. And he fully expected Joey to meet him, and possibly beat him, as their life points tallied up.

"Ok V, you smartass. The time for talk is over!" Joey snapped.

"Agreed." V said.

4000/4000

"Let's duel!"


	17. Joey vs V I: Underdogs

Chapter 17: Joey vs V: Underdogs

(Life Point Count: Joey 4000, V 4000)

"Go first! I insist!" Joey growled.

"As you wish." V said, as he drew. _Hmmmmm._ "I'll play a monster card face down, and then I'll play Infinite Cards!" V said, getting one of his key cards into play early. "And that'll be it."

Joey studied his hand, debating whether he should go for the throat, or if V anticipated that he would do that and hang back. In the end his irritation won out.

"Ok, I play Panther Warrior, in attack mode!" Joey said, as the cat humanoid (2000/1600) appeared. "And I'll also play Scapegoat so it can attack. Now go, attack his face down card!" Joey said. The four cute multi-coloured goats appeared and one was absorbed by the Panther Warrior as it lunged forward and destroyed V's face down card…which was the Skull Feline. 

"Hey hey, what do you think of that?" Joey said.

"Not bad, but also very stupid." V said. "You see, since you destroyed my face down card on its first turn down, you activated its special summon ability. Normally, I'd have to pay life points to do this, but not this time!" V said, and special summoned the Vileon to the field. The purple mutant cat creature (2100/1300) appeared as Joey's eyes went wide.

"Ah nuts."

"And on top of that, I'll play Queen's Double (350/300)! Now, Vileon, destroy his Panther Warrior!" V ordered. The cat creature ran forward, grabbed the Panther Warrior with its tentacles, and shoved it into its mouth, destroying it. Joey's life points dropped to 3900. "And then I'll use my Queen's Double to add to your pain!" The Queen's Double went around the Scapegoat and attacked Joey directly, taking away another 350 life points, leaving Joey with 3550.

"In your words, what do you think of that?" V said. Joey growled.

"Come on Joey! Don't get frustrated! This duel is just beginning!" Tristan called. Joey had to admit Tristan had a point.

"Heh, he's right! You haven't won yet!" Joey said.

"Friends tend to be. Now I'll lay a card face down and end my turn." V said.

Joey drew. _Blast, no monster cards! Good thing I have my Scapegoat._ "I'll lay a card face down and end my turn."

"All right then." V said, and drew. "I play Dark King of the Abyss, in attack mode!" The bald robed goblin (1200/800) appeared. "Attack his Scapegoat!" Away went another goat. "Vileon, same thing!" The third one went as well. "Queen's Double, attack his life points!"

Joey got hit again, reducing his power to 3200.

"Hmmmmph. Blasted…" Joey grumbled to himself. He glanced at the crowd. Serenity waved at him, and he felt better. Then he noticed that Mai was paying more attention to V then to him. Jealousy bloomed in his heart.

Not that V was returning her look of admiration. He was standing, looking at Joey, his hand holding his cards relaxed, waiting for Joey to make his next move. Well, at least he wasn't babbling on and on about how great he was. Joey found his opponents tended to do that.

Joey drew, and his eyes lit up as he found he was holding his Flame Swordsman card. He looked at his hand. _Ok gods and goddesses of luck, here we go!_

"I play Flame Swordsman, in attack mode!" Joey said, as the red-armoured favored card of Joey's (1800/1600) appeared. "And next I'll play Burning Soul Sword!" Joey said, the magic card appearing next to the Flame Swordsman.

"Doesn't Joey need to sacrifice a monster for that to work?" Serenity asked.

"What your sister said, Joey." V said. "And I don't think your final Scapegoat counts."

"Unless he's…" Tea said.

"Keep your pants on! I'm getting to that! And then I play Arduous Risk! Care to gamble V?" Joey said, as he pulled his deck out and looked through it.

"I'm game if you are." V said.

"All right then! Lemme explain!" Joey said as he selected two cards. "I am holding a monster and either a magic or trap card! You have to select one! If it's the trap or magic card, I lose the card and my turn's over, but if you pick the monster card, it automatically gets summoned to the field! So which one is the monster card? Which, which, which?" Joey said, waving his arms up and down as he held the cards' backs to V.

"You might not want to do that, your body language will give you away." V said quietly. Joey jerked and nearly dropped the cards.

"All right then, which one?" Joey said.

"It's easy. All I have to do is use what I've learned about you to deduce which hand you think would be the most valuable to you." V said.

"What?"

"Let me think." V said. "Your left arm is a bit shorter then your right, and you would want to hold the card that would aid you close, so I can clearly not choose the card in your left hand. But then again, you need a monster on the field to ward me off, and hence you might want to keep it closer to me as a sign for your desire, so I can clearly not choose the card in your right hand."

Joey was getting confused. So were his friends.

"But then again, your accent is Brooklyn, and somewhere I read that many people who live in Brooklyn emigrated from Australia, and Australia grew out of a penal colony and a civilization of criminals and a criminal would never let his advantage get close to the enemy, so I can clearly not choose the card in your left hand."

"Man, you really have a brain on you." Joey said.

"Wait until I get started! Where was I?"

"Australia."

"Oh yes. But then again, your left side is known in Latin as your _sinister_ side, a word that has migrated to the English language to mean evil, and so you may want to hold the card the card you need in that hand lest it somehow curse you, so I can clearly not choose the card in your right hand."

"So you've decided then?" Joey said, getting nervous.

"Not yet. You just went on that game show, which shows you are strong, and being strong you may feel secure that you could overcome a bad bit of luck and hence have held the card out so that it would be closer to me then to you, so I can clearly not choose the card in your right hand! But you are also a finalist in two major dueling tournaments which shows you also have some degree of intelligence and in intelligence you know that risk is not always beneficial so you would want to keep the card that will aid you as close to you as possible, so I can clearly not choose the card in your left hand!"

"You're trying to trick me into giving something away. It won't work!" Joey said.

"It already worked! You gave everything away! I know which card is the monster card!"

"Then make your choice!' Joey snapped, his voice filled with fool's courage.

"Certainly, and I choose…what in the world is that?" V said, pointing.

Joey twisted his neck to look, as did all his friends. They saw nothing.

"There's nothing there!" Joey said.

"Yeah, I know. But I had to be complete in stealing that scene from the _Princess Bride_." V replied.

Silence.

Then everyone except V facevaulted.

"ALL THAT STUFF ABOUT AUSTRALIA AND SINISTER SIDES WAS YOU QUOTING A FLICK!?!" Joey yelled.

"Pretty much. C'mon, I can't tell which card is which from your arm positions."

Joey facevaulted again.

"Can we choose a card, or would you prefer to start quoting _Godfather_ or something? Or maybe _Taxi Driver?_ _Space Balls,_ perhaps?" Joey asked.

"I'll choose. Hmmmmm…left card." V said.

"AW CRAP!" Joey yelled. "ALL THAT DRAMATIC JUNK AND IN THE END…YOU PICK THE MONSTER CARD ANYWAY!" Joey crowed, holding it up. V sweatdropped. _Oops._

"All right, thanks to the effect of Arduous Risk, I special summon the Fortress Whale to the field!" Joey whooped. The normal need of the ritual summon negated by the magic card, the gigantic gun-toting mammal (2350/2150) appeared. "He'll make a lovely powerup! Seeya fishy! Power up my Flame Swordsman!"

The Burning Soul Sword appeared in the Flame Swordsman's hand, as the Fortress Whale powered it up to 4150. "Now go! Attack his Vileon!"

The superpowered Flame Swordsman did just that, killing that cat and reducing V's life points to 1950. 

"Oh yeah! Whoo hoo! Yippee! Go Joey! It's your birthday!" Joey said, doing a little dance.

"Mammal." V said.

"What?" Joey replied, stopping his dance.

"A whale is a mammal, not a fish. It doesn't have gills."

Joey, setting a personal record, facevaulted for the third time in a minute.

"Whatever! I end my turn!" Joey said.

"All right then." V said, and drew. "Ah."

"Ah? Ah what?" Joey said.

"That powerup is just for one turn, right?"

"Uh….yeah."

"Excellent. I play Hibikime! And then I play Polymerization to fuse the two into the powerful Empress Judge!" V said as two of his monsters vanished and was replaced by a more powerful female creature (2100/1700).

"Sorry, that card can't attack until the following turn!" Joey said.

"I know. Then in that case, I'll use my Dark King of the Abyss to attack your final Scapegoat. Go!" V ordered, and the Dark King killed the last cute goat. "And then I'll lay a card face down and end my turn." V said.

Joey drew. _Heh heh heh. Let's see how cocky V is when his Empress Judge goes tumbling down my Trap Hole!_ "I'll lay a card face down and end my turn. Do your worst."

"Oh, I plan to." V said, as he drew. "First, I'll lay a card face down. Then I'll play Swords Into Plowshares!"

"What's that do?" Joey said.

"It allows me to transfer as many as 1500 attack points into my defense." V said.

"So…how will that help you?"

"Because I'm combining it with this. Reveal Face-down Card: Living Arrow!" V said. Joey, had he been drinking, would have done a classic spit take.

"Oh no! That's Yugi's card!" Tea said.

"I don't need this, but I think you need it even less! All right, go!" V said, as the Living Arrow fused with the Swords Into Plowshares card and struck the Flame Swordsman. "Take all 1500 into his defense!"

"Oh no! His monster's still in attack mode!" Tristan said as the Flame Swordsman's attack dropped to 300.

"It's gonna hurt worse. Finally, I play Offense Wheel!" V said. Mai blinked as a wheel appeared on the field. It looked just like the Protection Circle V had played in her duel with him, except it was red, and she had a feeling she knew the difference.

"This Wheel will hopefully make your pain even more excruciating! GO!" V said, as the wheel began to spin. Just like the Protection Circle, there were four slots that added 400, 800, 1600, or 3200 attack points, and four that took them away.

"Come on! Land on a bad spot!" Serenity said as the arrow slowed down.

"You're not the only one who relies on luck Joey." V said, as the wheel stopped…on +800. "Thank you!"

The Empress Judge's attack went up to 2900.

"Now Joey, you'll really feel some pain! Attack his Flame Swordsman!" V said, as the Empress Judge leapt forward

"Not if my Trap Hole has anything to say about it!" Joey said, smirking as he revealed his Trap.

"It won't, thanks to my Dust Tornado!"

The Dust Tornado swooped in and destroyed the Trap Hole. Joey's eyes widened as he realized he was wide open and heading for some serious pain.

"Now, as I was saying, ATTACK!" V yelled, as the Empress Judge leapt at the Swordsman.

"Joey…!!!" Serenity cried as the Judge swooped in…

To Be Continued


	18. Joey vs V II: Every Dog Has His Day

Chapter 18: Joey vs V: Every Dog Has His Day

(Life Point Count: Joey 3200, V 1950)

"This will hurt, I'll wager!" V said, as the Empress Judge swooped in. It swung its weapon.

"Sorry." Joey said.

A burst of smoke covered the dueling arena. V recoiled as it washed over him, and as he turned back he found that his attack had stopped. "Hey, what gives!"

"Like I said, sorry. But you were too busy gloating to notice I activate my Roulette Spider magic card." Joey said. V saw that his Empress Judge was now in the center of a wheel on which rested Joey's Flame Swordsman and V's Dark King of the Abyss, along with Joey and V as well. His Empress has a weird insect creature wrapped around her face, out of which poked an arrow like tail. As V watched, his Empress began to spin.

"You were saying something about luck, V? Well, tell your monster to stop! Get it right and I'm in for a world of hurt, but get it wrong and…well, need I say more?" Joey said.

V watched his creature spin around. His eyes narrowed.

"Come on! Pick!" Joey said.

"….STOP!" V yelled.

The Empress Judge began to slow down, passing Joey, the Dark King, V, the Flame Swordsman, Joey again, the Dark King, and onto V, finally slowing to a stop…

"AH!" V yelled. If he got a direct attack, he'd lose!

"YEAH! I WIN!" Joey yelled, pumping his fist into the air.

And then the arrow moved once more, onto the Flame Swordsman, stopping.

"GUH?" Joey said. V smirked.

"Looks like we're back where he started. Your luck just ran out." V said. "GO!"

"AH!" Joey yelled as the Flame Swordsman was attacked. Smoke filled the dueling arena again.

"Nice move Joey, but luck can't always favor you." V said.

The smoke began to clear.

"How wrong you are."

And it cleared, revealing Joey, ok, his life points untouched, and the Flame Swordsman still there.

"WHAT?" V yelled.

"You thought you were hurting me with that Swords Into Plowshares card, huh? Well yeah, it weakened my Swordsman. But it also let me activate this." Joey said, as his Silver Dollar Trap card appeared. "Guess YOUR luck ran out."

V growled. Joey looked content. His fan club cheered, and Joey noticed that Mai was now paying attention to him again. All right!

"Well then, if that's all…" Joey said. He drew. "I play Pot of Greed and draw two new cards…" Joey said, and then he drew it. _Excellent! This duel is over!_

"All right V, you may have a big mouth but your skills can't back it up! First, I use Monster Recovery to call back my Flame Swordsman!" _He's still weak, can't have him messing me up._ "And next I'll play Brain Control!"

"Aren't those Yugi's cards?" Serenity said.

"Joey has some as well, I believe." Tristan said. It didn't surprise him, considering how much Yugi and Joey hung out. He wondered if any of Joey's cards had migrated to Yugi's deck.

"Oh great, there goes my Empress Judge." V said.

"Heck no! I'm taking your Dark King!" Joey said. V arched an eyebrow. _Why is he taking my weaker monster?_

"You see, anyone can win, but not everyone can do it with style! I don't need your Empress Judge! I have something all my own!" Joey said.

"First, I'll sacrifice your Dark King of the Abyss, to bring out my Legendary Fisherman!" Joey said, as the shark-riding fisherman appeared. "And then, I'll use Monster Reborn, to bring back the other big…_MAMMAL_, the Fortress Whale!"

"Not exactly a bad move, but I don't see how this helps Joey." Mai said.

"And now, for the _coup d'etet!_ My brand new Fusion card, and even if it's a D-Card it will certainly help in taking down this Wanna-D! So I play Polymerization, and fuse my Legendary Fisherman and Fortress Whale to form the Legendary White Whale Commander!"

Water appeared beneath the two water creatures, and they plunged beneath it. A few seconds later, an even larger and now white whale reared up from beneath, the Legendary Fisherman standing on its back with a giant harpoon slung over his shoulder and a new navy cape flapping in the breeze.

"Nice to have you with us, yeah YEAH!" Joey whooped, as his new Legendary White Whale Commander (3150/2900) flicked its tail, gazing down on V with a baleful glare.

"Very nice Joey. Very nice." V said, and gave Joey a brief hand of applause. Then he drew. "I end my turn."

"Without doing anything?" Joey said.

"Yes."

"Ok buddy, your funeral. Attack, White Whale! Scorn of Ishmael attack!" Joey said, as the LWWC reared back to do its attack.

"I don't think so. Reveal face down monster card: Magician of Faith!" V said. "You know her effect, so I'll use it, and bring back my Offense Wheel magic card!"

"Ah crap!" Joey said, as the wheel-reappeared, spinning.

"After this Joey, it'll be child's play to take you down! No one will be…able…AH! NO! DON'T STOP THERE!" V yelled as the Wheel slowed down, slipping past the +3200 mark and settling on the –1600. "BLOODY HELL!"

Joey smirked as it stayed there, as V's plan backfired and his Empress Judge was weakened to 1300 attack points.

"Now, what was that about child's play?" Joey said. "White Whale, attack!"

"ARGH!" V yelled as his Empress Judge was destroyed and his life points plummeted down to a mere 100. Smoking a bit, V pulled himself back up, shook his head, and looked over at Joey, who looked to be having a grand old time.

"Very nice move Joey. Looks like those titles were earned." V said as he drew. "I switch my Magician of Faith (300/400) into Defense Mode and I play Hinotama Soul (900/500), also in defense." V said.

"You better believe it." Joey said, as he drew. A great big smile broke over his face. "Well, it's been a joy V, but time for you to lose! Activate Defense Paralysis!" Joey said as he played his magic card and forced V's monsters out of defense mode.

"…Uh oh." V said.

"You talked, you mocked, you bragged, you tried! You suck, you lose, you're done, good bye!" Joey chanted, doing a small dance. "White Whale, attack his Magician of Faith!"

And the Whale swooped in…

To Be Continued


	19. Joey vs V III: Dog Day Afternoon

Chapter 19: Joey vs V: Dog Day Afternoon

(Life Point Count: Joey 3200, V 100)

The new fusion of Joey's, the Legendary White Whale Commander, zoomed in the Magician of Faith that had been a key part in V's plan, a plan that had failed.

But that was why there were backups.

"Not so fast Joey! Reveal face down card!" V said, and Joey realized that V did still have a card face down, one he'd laid a while ago. "Activate the magic card Chronosis Mercy!"

"Another Chronosis card…" Mai said. Her mind wasn't really on those cards though. The duel had been going for a bit, and V had yet to use…it.

Maybe Joey would beat him before he did, but…

"This time altering magic card causes a skip in time. You still launched your attack, and I'm still here, but somewhere in transition your attack just kinda…well…" V said, as the LWWC returned to its position, its attack negated. Joey's euphoria faded.

"Well, you may have escaped me, but not for long!" Joey said.

"Maybe. I play Alter of Sacrificial Compassion! This allows me to absorb my monster's defense points into my life points." V said, as his Magician of Faith and Hinotoma Soul disappeared and V's life points went back up to 1000. "Then I'll lay a monster card face down and another card and end my turn."

"Well V, I can't quite apply your logical nonsense that you were using earlier, but I can get an idea that you barely avoided my last attack, and will do anything to avoid another. Including bluff! So White Whale, attack his face down monster card!"

The giant whale swooped it, the fisherman raising his huge harpoon.

"Not smart." V said.

The LWWC struck the card, and it briefly appeared and then shattered. And then a void appeared where it had vanished.

"HEY!" Joey yelled.

"That was a Dimensional Warrior (1200/1000). Attacking it removed both it and your whale from play. So bye bye fishy." V said, as the LWWC was sucked into nothingness and destroyed. Joey growled.

"Hey, I thought you said it was a mammal!" Joey said.

"Whatever." V replied. "Destroying my face down card also activated my Mourn of the Fallen magic card, so I can draw four new cards." V said, and did so.

"They won't do you any good though!" Joey suddenly called. V looked up. Joey was smirking and holding up a card.

"I just re-read this. Apparently there was a special ability I didn't note. When the Legendary White Whale Commander is destroyed, I can special summon any monster with up to six stars from my hand! And I just happen to have a card for that! COME FORTH INSECT QUEEN!" Joey yelled, as the gigantic female monster (2200/2400) appeared.

"Huh. Thought he was going to use Jinzo. Guess he hasn't drawn it yet." Tristan said.

"Nice card. Would have expected this more from another guy I dueled earlier though." V said.

"Was his name Weevil by any chance?" Joey asked.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"I won this off of him."

"Oh well, good for you." V said.

"Maybe. Weevil was a cheating sneaky creep, but he had some nice moves. So I decided to steal one. Come forth Cockroach Knight!" Joey said, as the ugly bug monster (800/900) appeared.

"That must be why Joey used Insect Queen! He had Cockroach Knight in his hand as well!" Tea said.

"That's my brother. Not only great on his own, but great using other people's moves as well." Serenity said.

"And if you didn't notice, your life points are wide open, so even though you saved yourself from my White Whale, you're just bug food instead! So eat up Queen, and make me proud!" Joey said. The Insect Queen ate the Cockroach Knight and then charged forward to attack.

"Not today. I play Chronosis Distortion!" V said, pulling a card from his hand.

"ANOTHER one? Does he have the full set?" Mai asked.

"Another error in time has happened Joey! In this time, you and I are where we are, but in another time, what's to say you're not…somewhere else…say…where I am now?" V said, as a shifting field of light appeared before V and the Insect Queen ran into it. Joey arched an eyebrow, and then he yelled as the Insect Queen returned, now running the other way and striking him with a direct blow, dropping his life points down to 1000.

"Ow…" Joey said, pulling himself back up.

"It's ok Joey! You can still win!" Serenity said.

"Yeah! Go Joey, go!" Tea added.

"Very supportive group you have." V said.

"They've always been there for me. If my deck doesn't win it for me, they will. Can you say the same?" Joey asked.

"Maybe not, but I have great faith in my own abilities…" V said as he drew. He stared, and then he sighed.

"Sorry Joey. This duel just ended."

A cold chill ran down Mai's spine. He'd drawn it.

"Ah blow it out your ear! I still got plenty more!" Joey said.

"You're great Joey. You truly are. But I play to win, and it's time." V said, as he drew a card and placed it on the field. "First I play Scapegoat."

"Hey hey, great minds think alike!" Joey said.

"I suppose, but I have a different use for this card. Do you recognize this card Joey?" V said, holding out another one. Joey squinted.

"Nope." He said.

"It's called Mathemagician. Useful card, can be used a few different ways. But here's the way I'm going to use it." V said, as the goats all suddenly lined up.

"Using this card, I can assign each of these creatures a number. It can be any monster, but the Scapegoat cards are useful because you get so many at once. The thing is, for the number you choose, you have to pay that amount of life points in hundreds. The number I assign is 2, so I pay 200 points for each goat." V said, as his life points dropped to 200 as he paid the 800 life point cost. A small number 2 appeared on each goat's forehead.

"What follows is the trick. Between each monster, I can place a mathematical sign. I can only use two of the same sign, and not in a row. Once I place the signs, the number adds up, and whatever number I get, I can immediately summon a monster with that number of stars to the field. And the signs I choose, in order, are plus, multiple, plus."

The signs appeared between the Scapegoats.

2 plus 2 times 2 plus 2…

Joey did the math.

"Hey V, I think for all your talking you didn't think it through! You messed up!" Joey said, though in his gut a trickle of nervousness had begun to bloom.

"No I didn't." V said quietly.

"But two plus two is four…and four times two is eight…and eight plus two is ten!"

"You paid attention in school, I see."

"But that's impossible! The only monsters with ten stars are…"

Brief pause, and then V reached into his hand and plucked out the card.

Joey's eyes nearly bugged straight out of his head.

"NO!"

"Oh yes." V said, and thrust the card over his head. "COME FORTH MIGHTY BEAST! BRING ME VICTORY!"

"NO! IT CAN'T BE HIM! NO! NO! NO!!!!!!!!" Joey yelled, more in absolutely disbelief then in actual fear. It had to be a trick. A new card. It couldn't be the…

"It seems you know of this card, Joey." V said, as lightning suddenly exploded through the room, causing Joey's fan club to dive for cover. "Then you should know its power! So come forth, saint dragon god of the skies! You called him Sleifer, but I call him by his true name! OSIRIS!!!!!!!!!!" V yelled, as throughout the room a long and massive body suddenly looped through, twisting and bunching up against everything, as a massive twin-jawed head of the Saint Dragon God Osiris, aka Sleifer the Sky Dragon, floated down next to V, who looked very pleased.

"And now…"

"GIMME OUTTA HERE!" Joey yelled. V arched an eyebrow: Joey was actually trying to get off the dueling platform. And his friends looked like they wanted to run away as well, except Sleifer/Osiris's body was in their way. His huge form REALLY cramped the room.

"Joey, where are you going?"

"YOU FOOL! YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT CARD! YUGI HAS IT! IT'S LOCKED UP! AND HE'D HAVE TOLD ME IF IT WAS STOLEN!" Joey yelled, his voice filled with fear.

"Well of course. This is a D-Card."

"WHAT? LEMME OUTTA HERE! RUN! EVERYONE!" Joey screamed.

"Joey stop that."

"No! You don't understand! The God Cards can only be summoned by their proper cards! If you use fake cards, they'll kill you! You fool, how did you get an Egyptian God D-Card? That thing will kill us all! RUN WHILE YOU CAN!"

"Joey…"

"HE'LL KILL US!"

**_"JOEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"_** V thundered, actually managing to piece through Joey's veil of panic. And that panic wasn't just for his own well-being. He'd experienced it first hand what had happened, when Rishid, under Malik's orders, had tried to call Ra using the fake version of the God card. Ra had struck both Rishid and him down, and Joey was in no mood to relieve that experience, much less expose his friends and his sister to that risk. That fool V, how did he ever…

"Joey, it won't smite you."

"You don't know! YOU IDIOT! YOU DON'T KNOW!" Joey screamed.

"I know more then you think. Relax. It won't destroy us. We have a…mutual agreement." V said.

There was something in V's tone that gave Joey pause, as well as the others, as they got up from where they had either fallen or stumbled from trying to get around Osiris/Sleifer's body, which pretty much blocked all the exits.

"You…what?"

"I know what I have here. It won't smite you. It will duel and then it will go. Right, Osiris?" V said, looking over. Osiris looked pretty cross actually, his huge toothy mouth looking slightly more clenched then usual.

Still with his knees shaking, barely able to hold his cards, Joey stood up to face V again.

"That's better. Now let's finish our duel." V said.

"Joey!" Mai was yelling. Joey looked over. "This is what I was trying to tell you about! He has Sleifer in his hand!"

"OSIRIS. His name is OSIRIS." V said. "How in the hell did you garble Osiris into Sleifer? That's like garbling, say, Gazelle, King of Mythical Beasts, into something like, er, "Cornwind Evilman". You know? Really, geez." V said. (Writer's Note: Yes, I know that in the American version that Sleifer comes from the name of a producer of the show, so don't bother pointing that out.)

"You…say you can control Sli, er, Osiris?"

"Control it? No. But we can work together." V said.

"You don't have something called a Millennium Item do you?" Joey asked.

"No."

"Do you know anyone who was born in ancient Egypt?"

"Can't say so."

Joey boggled. God Cards were extremely powerful and dangerous. Even Yugi had barely been able to control his. Yet here was V, lacking Yugi's special powers, with Osiris called to his side of the field…

"And as I was about to say before you freaked, I combo that with these two cards: Pot of Greed, and Blessed Dice!" V said, as the green smiling pot card flipped up even as an angel appeared and rolled a die. "This will multiply the amount of cards Pot of Greed will give me."

"Oh no." Joey said.

The die rolled and flipped, and finally landed on a three.

"Three time two! Six cards!" V said, as he drew them. "Add those to the one card in my hand, and Osiris has a total of 7000 attack points!" V said, as Osiris powered up fully to its 7000/7000 stats granted by V.

"I…I, aw man, geez, who…can…gah, geezus…" Joey said, still stunned and shocked. "I don't know…what can…"

"Joey? You ok?"

"I…man…no won't give up…but how can I…he…man…I…"

"Joey!"

Joey's ears picked up. That was Mai's voice.

"You can still do it Joey! I believe you can!" Mai said.

"Yeah buddy! Who cares if he had a God Card!"

"Yeah, you still have us Joey!"

"Go big brother!"

"I'll admit Joey, this wasn't exactly the most fair trick. Apparently this card isn't all that common, and it commands special abilities beyond other cards, so how could you have properly prepared for it…but then maybe that's the mark of a true duelist…then again, maybe it's foolish to assume that…then again, you said you were so great…but then AGAIN, I like you Joey. So I have an offer for you." V said.

"An offer? What?"

"Your main weapon is luck, so I'll push mine. I'll give you three turns to come up with a counter move to use against Osiris. Three turns. I won't attack. I won't defend. I won't play any other cards. I'll do nothing. But after three turns, if you can't save yourself, I finish this. Deal?"

Joey looked at V.

"Don't think of it as pity. Think of it as, say, a willful tactical mistake." V said.

Joey blinked.

"Ok! I'll do it! And you'll regret it V!" Joey said.

"Oh I'm sure you truly wish that." V said, as Osiris floated around him. "But I doubt your wish and reality will match up."

To Be Concluded


End file.
